The former Cabinet minister said Tory MPs need to decide how they can restore confidence in the Government following the Sue Gray report.
31 May 2022
Former Cabinet minister Dame Andrea Leadsom has become the latest senior Tory to criticise Boris Johnson for his “unacceptable failings of leadership” over lockdown parties in Downing Street.
In a letter to her constituents, Dame Andrea said the “extent and severity” of the rule-breaking in No 10 exposed in the Sue Gray report meant it was “extremely unlikely” the senior leadership did not know what was going on.
“The conclusion I have drawn from the Sue Gray report is that there have been unacceptable failings of leadership that cannot be tolerated and are the responsibility of the Prime Minister,” she said.
In the message, which was shared on social media, she stopped short of directly calling on Mr Johnson to resign and did not say whether she had submitted a letter calling for a no confidence vote.
Dame Andrea concluded however by saying: “Each of my Conservative colleagues and I must now decide individually on what is the right course of action that will restore confidence in our Government.”
Her intervention is a further blow to Mr Johnson as a steady stream of Tory MPs have been calling on the Prime Minister to stand down in the wake of Ms Gray’s report last week.
A committed Brexiteer, Dame Andrea backed Mr Johnson for the leadership in 2019 after pulling out of the contest herself, underlining the fact that discontent with the Prime Minister extends across the party.
