YOU’RE TOAST..GO

TIME’S UP JOHNSON: GOVERNMENT IN MELTDOWN | Top Tories tell him to quit | But defiant PM sacks Gove

- PIPPA CRERAR

SHAMELESS Boris Johnson was somehow still hanging on to power last night despite a humiliating 24 hours.

Conservative MPs were aghast that the Prime Minister told his Cabinet he was staying put in the face of a vast Tory campaign to force him out.

It was clear his time was nearly up yesterday, with 42 ministers and parliamentary aides having left their roles amid calls for him to go.

A delegation of Cabinet ministers including Home Secretary Priti Patel, Chief Whip Chris HeatonHarris and newly appointed Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi went to No10 last night to try to convince Mr Johnson to throw in the towel.

In an extraordinary stand-off, the top Tories threatened to resign unless the PM agreed to quit.

Insiders said he told them he wanted to focus on “getting on with the job”. With support crumbling around his ears, the bullish PM told his big name colleagues he had no plans to resign and he would reshuffle his Cabinet if necessary.

In a stunning act of revenge, the Prime Minister then sacked Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove.

It came hours after Mr Gove tried to persuade the PM to stand down – and six years after Mr Gove torpedoed Mr Johnson’s first Conservative leadership bid.

Relegating him to the backbenches is a high stakes move for the PM because his old adversary is a formidable organiser.

Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tories, also visited No10 to tell the PM that the party wanted him to go.