‘Lose Boris, lose Brexit’ – Don Valley MP Nick Fletcher says he will back Boris Johnson in no confidence vote

The PM’s fate now hangs in the hands of his own MPs after 54 parliamentary colleagues triggered a threshold for a vote of no confidence.

Johnson needs the backing of at least 180 MPs – over 50 per cent of the 359 that make up the Conservative party in the House of Commons.

Despite latest polling showing that Fletcher would lose his Don Valley seat by 10 points or more, he is backing the PM in the no confidence motion and said he ‘got Brexit done and got us out of Covid’.

Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, announced on Monday (June 6) that the threshold of 54 letters of no confidence had been collected.

Conservative MPs will cast their vote on Monday evening between 6pm and 8pm and a result is expected later that evening.

If Mr Johnson does win the vote then he is theoretically safe from another such challenge for a year – but the rules can be changed.

Letters sent to the 1922 Committee have ramped up since the publication of the Sue Gray report into Downing Street lockdown parties and the PM being handed a fine by the Metropolitan Police for his part.

Mr Fletcher said: “I will be supporting the Prime Minister tonight. I believe this is the right thing to do. I am tired of this topic playing into the hands of the opposition, remainers and the mainstream media.

“We lose our Prime Minister, we will lose Brexit, our nation’s recovery and the levelling-up. I cannot let this happen, Doncaster has waited too long. Levelling up is our time to secure our next generation’s future and I will not let this opportunity pass.

“The Prime Minister was the right man in 2019 and he’s the right man now.

“He got Brexit done. He got us through and out of Covid. He vaccinated a nation. He’s a hero in Ukraine.

“And he’s now helping families across the nation with their cost of living while still keeping a check on Net Zero.

“To thank the Prime Minister by putting him through this is a travesty and I will play no part.”