BORIS ALLIES BLAST PLOT REBELS AS ‘KIDS'

'PORK PIE’ MPs SEND IN LETTERS TO OUST PM AS LOYALISTS RALLY TO PM’S SIDE

- Nicholas Cecil, Rachael Burford, David Bond

TORY MPs clashed today with more understood to have sent in letters of no confidence in Boris Johnson, but loyalists rallied around him and slammed the plotters as “kids”.

A growing number of Conservative MPs from the 2019 intake are understood to have written to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tories, in a bid to trigger a vote in the PM’s leadership over the “Partygate” furore.

However, the party is split with loyalist MPs defending the Prime Minister, attacking the “kids” seeking to topple him and stressing the success of the Covid jabs roll-out.

Amid the political frenzy at Westminster, speculation was swirling that at least one “Red Wall” Conservative MP might defect. He has been in talks with the Labour party to defect since the “Partygate” scandal broke, sources said.

The threat to Mr Johnson is partly coming from a group of MPs known as the “Pork Pie” plotters, as they were said to involve Melton Mowbray MP Alicia Kearns.

Unconfirmed reports suggested around half, about 10, of the “Pork Pie” group have submitted letters by this morning. But only Sir Graham knows the true figure. If it reaches 54, it would trigger a confidence vote in Mr Johnson.