Keir Starmer was grinning from ear to ear as he laid into Boris Johnson’s floundering premiership at a brutal PMQs.
The leader of the opposition batted off shouts from the Tory benches with a quip about the Downing Street party scandal that has left the prime minister battling to survive.
Sir Keir said ‘he can only presume the chief whip has told them to bring their own booze’ to laughs across the chamber.
Perhaps no one was laughing more than Sir Keir himself, whose confidence was through the roof as he welcomed Tory defector Christian Wakeford to his party.
The Bury South MP is leaving the Conservatives for Labour as Boris Johnson’s leadership faces crisis.
The PM is fighting for his political life following months of damaging allegations about gatherings in Downing Street during lockdown.
Mr Johnson has admitted attending a ‘bring your own booze’ party in the garden of No 10, but claims he thought it was a ‘work event’ and ‘no one told him’ it would be breaking the rules.
Sir Keir said the PM’s account of No 10 parties ‘gets more extraordinary with each version’.
He said the latest claims suggest his staff were not being truthful when it was alleged they warned him about the party on 20 May 2020.
‘It requires the prime minister to expect us to believe that while every other person… was told it was a social occasion, he alone was told it was a work meeting’, Sir Keir said, asking if he realises ‘how ridiculous that sounds’.
The PM responded by telling the Labour leader to wait for the results of the Sue Gray investigation into Downing Street parties.He then referred to a photograph published in the Daily Mail of Sir Keir drinking a pint of beer in April 2021.
Sir Keir shrugged it off saying if that is Boris Johnson’s only line of defence then the plan he has crafted to save himself – reportedly dubbed Operation Save Big Dog – must be in trouble.
‘If the Prime Minister thinks the only accusation he faces is that he once had a beer with a takeaway then Operation Save Big Dog is in deeper trouble than I thought,’ said Sir Keir.
‘I know it’s not going well Prime Minister, but look on the bright side – at least his staff at Number 10 know how to pack a suitcase.‘
It was claimed last week that Downing Street staffheld a party with a DJ and a ‘suitcase full of wine’ on the night before the late Prince Philip’s funeral, when indoor social mixing between households was banned.
Downing Street was forced to apologise to Buckingham Palace after the allegations came to light.
Sir Keir asked why the prime minister ‘didn’t hand in his resignation at the same time’.
He finished his line of attack by accusing the government of being ‘too distracted by their own chaos’to help people who are struggling.
He said: ‘While Labour was setting out plans to heat homes, he was buying a fridge to keep the party wine chilled.
‘While we were setting out plans to keep bills down, he was planning parties. And while we were setting out plans to save jobs in the steel industry, he was trying to save just one job – his own.
‘Doesn’t the country deserve so much better than this out-of-touch, out-of-control, out-of-ideas and soon to be out-of-office Prime Minister?’
There is mounting speculation a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson could be imminent, with several Conservatives publicly calling for the PM to go.
During the savage PMQs, former Tory cabinet minister David Davis rose to his feet to tell Mr Johnson: ‘You have sat there too long, for all the good you have done. In the name of God, go’.
But with the PM refusing to resign, several Tory MPs elected in 2019 under Mr Johnson’s ‘Get Brexit Done’ banner have reportedly discussed a plan to oust him.
The mutiny has been dubbed the ‘pork pie plot’, because one of those involved was Alicia Kearns, new MP for Rutland and Melton, home of the Melton Mowbray pork pie.
And while Mr Johnson’s frontbench has remained loyal publicly, there are reports of maneuvering and disenfranchisement behind the scenes.
Potential Tory leadership candidates like Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are said to be positioning themselves ahead of a potential contest if the threshold for a no confidence vote is reached.
It is unclear how many Conservative MPs have submitted letters of no confidence to the 1922 Committee, but some reports suggest dozens may have already done so or be on the verge. 54 MPs would need to submit one to trigger a vote.
What is the 1922 Committee and how does it work?
The group, which is formally known as the Conservative Private Members' Committee, is the body which represents backbench Tory MPs. It acts as a forum for the rank and file to liaise with the government and plays a crucial role in organising Tory leadership elections.
The phrase ‘men in grey suits’, which refers to the Tory big hitters who hold sway in the party behind the scenes, has become synonymous with the committee. Its current chair is Sir Graham Brady.
Under 1922 Committee rules, Conservatives MPs can force a leadership election by submitting letters of no-confidence to the chair. A confidence vote is triggered if 15% of the parliamentary party submit the letters (that works out as 54 MPs). The letters are submitted anonymously and there is no public tally.
If the threshold is reached, a secret ballot of Tory parliamentarians will be held. Mr Johnson would need a simple majority of his own MPs to back him in order to hold on to his position.
Is he lost a confidence vote, the Tories would elect a new leader - and new prime minister - in a race which Mr Johnson would be barred from standing in. It’s unclear if he would remain PM during the election or whether an interim would take the reins while the process played out.
Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.
Share this with