Former cabinet minister David Davis has joined calls for Boris Johnson to stand down, telling the prime minister: "In the name of God, go."

He said the PM had failed to take responsibility for his actions over lockdown parties in Downing Street.

Mr Davis's remarks came after backbench Tory MP Christian Wakeford defected to Labour, minutes before Prime Minister's Questions began.

The PM batted away repeated calls to quit during the stormy Commons session.

Mr Davis's criticisms and Mr Wakeford's defection come as Mr Johnson fights to save his premiership after admitting attending a drinks event in Downing Street during the first lockdown.

So far six Conservative MPs have publicly declared no confidence in the PM, but more are thought to have submitted letters to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 committee, who organises Tory leadership contests.

There are claims that the threshold of 54 letters needed to trigger a no-confidence vote and leadership election could soon be reached, but no official word has been given.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, one of those who has called for Mr Johnson to quit, said a no-confidence vote was "near" and "getting closer".

But a former cabinet minister told the BBC that Mr Wakeford's defection seemed to be backfiring, as his actions had "provided an alternative target for rage" among Tory MPs.

Another Tory MP said he had been "let down by a good friend" and that his now ex-colleague had "unified the party".

The prime minister is urging fellow Conservatives not to pass judgement on him until a report on parties at No 10, by senior civil servant Sue Gray, comes out next week.

In his letter to Mr Johnson, Bury South MP Mr Wakeford, said: "You and the Conservative Party as a whole have shown themselves incapable of offering the leadership and government this country deserves."

The last MP to defect from the Conservatives to Labour was Quentin Davies in 2007, when Gordon Brown was prime minister.

At Prime Minister's Questions, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer welcomed Mr Wakeford to his party and repeated his call for Mr Johnson to quit, saying his "absurd and unreliable defences" of

No 10 parties were unravelling.

But the most dramatic intervention came towards the end of the session, when Mr Davis told Mr Johnson he had spent weeks defending him from "angry constituents".

"I expect my leaders to shoulder the responsibility for the actions they take. Yesterday he did the opposite of that. So, I will remind him of a quotation which may be familiar to his ear: Leopold Amery to Neville Chamberlain. You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. In the name of God, go.'"

The PM said he did not "know what [Mr Davis] is talking about", but insisted he took "full responsibility for everything done in this government and throughout the pandemic".

Speaking afterwards to the BBC, Mr Davis, the former Brexit secretary, said he had supported Mr Johnson until his interview on Tuesday, when he said he had not been told a party in the Downing Street garden risked breaking Covid rules.

Jake Berry, chairman of the Northern Research Group of Red Wall Tory MPs, most of whom won their seats from Labour at the 2019 general election, said he thought Mr Davis had "misjudged the mood of colleagues."

But he added that "the next few weeks and months" would prove whether the former minister was correct.

House of Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg described Mr Davis's message to MPs as "too theatrical", telling Channel 4 News he had "always been a lone wolf."

Ms Gray's team are talking to the PM's former aide Dominic Cummings, who says he warned the PM that the Downing Street garden party in May 2020 risked breaking Covid rules.

Mr Cummings has also accused Mr Johnson - who insists he thought the party was a work event - of misleading Parliament.

At PMQs, Sir Keir said the prime minister's defence requires the public to believe that "as he waded through the empty bottles and platters of sandwiches, he didn't realise it was a party".

He added: "If a prime minister misleads Parliament, should they resign?"

Mr Johnson said: "[Sir Keir] is continuing to ask a series of questions which he knows will be fully addressed by the inquiry. He is wasting this House's time. He is wasting the people's time."

The SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford said: "The prime minister is taking the public for fools. Nobody believes him. Will the prime minister finally take responsibility? Resign, go, prime minister."

(BBC)

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