The deputy prime minister has insisted there will not be a Boris Johnson leadership vote next week, saying the "Westminster bubble whips this stuff up".
Dominic Raab downplayed any threat to Mr Johnson's premiership as the number of Conservative MPs publicly calling for him to go reached 41 in the wake of the Sue Gray report on lockdown-breaking parties in Number 10 and Whitehall.
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Asked by Sky News' Kay Burley if there will be a leadership vote next week - as predicted by former leader William Hague - he said: "No. I think the Westminster bubble, village, whips this stuff up and I'm not saying it's not serious and significant but we dealt with all those issues, the prime minister has dealt with all those issues.
"It does feel like a lot of commentary building up this issue when actually, when I talk to MPs and across the House of Commons on the issues I'm taking forward... they want to see us driving forward that agenda.
"To be honest, votes of no confidence, leadership contests, all of that is yet more of Westminster talking to itself, not talking to the public, our constituents and the vast majority of MPs respect, recognise and agree with that."
John Stevenson became the 28th MP to call for Mr Johnson to go and revealed on Tuesday he had submitted a letter of no confidence in the PM to Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers.
A total of 54 letters - 15% of Tory MPs - need to be handed over to trigger a leadership vote, with only Sir Graham knowing how many letters have been submitted.
Currently, the number of MPs who have publicly revealed they have handed in a letter has not reached that threshold but more may have done privately.
In 2018, only 24 MPs publicly said they had handed in a letter of no confidence in Theresa May, but a leadership vote was triggered as more than the 48 needed at the time had actually been submitted.
Read more:
All the Conservative MPs who have called on Boris Johnson to quit
Mr Raab also defended the PM after his ethics adviser, Lord Geidt, asked the PM to explain why he believes he has not broken the ministerial code after being fined by the Metropolitan Police for a lockdown breach.
Lord Geidt reportedly tried to resign as he feared if he asked Mr Johnson for permission to investigate the matter, the proposal would be rejected.
A Downing Street source told Sky News: "It was a misunderstanding, we don't expect a resignation."
Mr Johnson wrote to Lord Geidt to tell him: "Taking account of all the circumstances, I did not breach the code."
The PM said he had apologised for attending the birthday party he was fined for and insisted "at the time I did not consider that the circumstances in which I received a fixed penalty notice were contrary to the regulations".
Mr Raab said: "Lord Geidt raised that issue, the PM responded to it and he has been clear in relation to the single fixed penalty notice he hadn't intentionally broken the law and his attendance at that gathering has been well-rehearsed, was inadvertent.
"I think these answers have been answered both in general, but also now specifically in the letter the PM has sent."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMidGh0dHBzOi8vbmV3cy5za3kuY29tL3N0b3J5L3BhcnR5Z2F0ZS1uby1ib3Jpcy1qb2huc29uLWxlYWRlcnNoaXAtdm90ZS1uZXh0LXdlZWstc2F5cy1kZXB1dHktcG0tZG9taW5pYy1yYWFiLTEyNjI1MDgw0gF4aHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzLnNreS5jb20vc3RvcnkvYW1wL3BhcnR5Z2F0ZS1uby1ib3Jpcy1qb2huc29uLWxlYWRlcnNoaXAtdm90ZS1uZXh0LXdlZWstc2F5cy1kZXB1dHktcG0tZG9taW5pYy1yYWFiLTEyNjI1MDgw?oc=5
2022-06-01 08:15:00Z
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