Will any Tory take the lead in seeking to remove Boris Johnson?

There appears to be some quivering, last-minute panic about the right moment to plunge more letters into the hands of 1922 Committee boss Sir Graham Brady. Adam Forrest takes a closer look

Boris Johnson faces prospect of no-confidence vote (PA)

The troublesome business of running the country means Boris Johnson has not yet got round to writing his long-delayed biography on William Shakespeare.

Perhaps it is the prime minister’s indecisive enemies on the backbenches who could do with consulting the bard – particularly Macbeth: “If it were done, when ’tis done, then ’twere well it were done quickly.”

The Tory rebels see the dagger before them. They know they are on the brink of backstabbing their leader by triggering a no-confidence vote as soon as next week.

But there appears to be some quivering, last-minute panic about the right moment to plunge more letters into the hands of 1922 Committee boss Sir Graham Brady.

One MP who wants rid of Mr Johnson is said to have urged fellow plotters to withdraw their letters in case the threshold of 54 letters is reached too soon “by accident” at the start of next week.

The thinking goes that potential leadership contenders have not had enough time to muster support from wavering MPs, who want some good options for the next PM before turning on Johnson. Some feel it would be better to stage the vote after the 23 June by-elections.

The problem is, no one is in charge of the staging. The rebel Tories are acting in the dark. They belong to different wings of the party and have shown no sign of coordinating their frustrations over Partygate in recent months.

Some of the so-called red wall Tories from the 2019 intake were blinded by the limelight following stories about a “pork-pie plot”, some having met to discuss Johnson’s future in the office of Rutland and Melton MP Alicia Kearns. They have kept their heads down ever since.

The Covid lockdown sceptics Mark Harper and Steve Baker have declared their opposition to the Johnson premiership, but they are not interested in organising a putsch. Baker says his “heart wouldn’t be in it”.

Then there are the former ministers who lost government jobs during the Johnson revolution. Some are moderate, “one nation” types, chastened by the Brexit battles and reluctant to declare themselves plotters lest the anti-Boris push gets tagged a “Remoaner” plot.

Former health minister Jeremy Hunt has made it clear he is up for another run at the leadership. Foreign affairs committee chair Tom Tugendhat has also signalled that he would throw his hat into the ring.

But there is no agreement on a figure to coalesce behind. So many wavering Tories are looking at the current cabinet and wondering who gives them the best chance of winning the next general election.

The ambitions of chancellor Rishi Sunak – who repeatedly denied having designs on No 10 when his star was ascendant – appears to have been badly, perhaps fatally, damaged by recent tax revelations.

Foreign secretary Liz Truss may remain popular with the Tory membership, but there is very little enthusiasm for her among MPs. She does not have the allies to help engineer a subtle takeover.

Ben Wallace has emerged at the most popular member of the cabinet with the grassroots, if the regular ConservativeHome survey is anything to go by. But like all ministers, he would not wish to be seen anywhere near the dagger, and there is no sign he wants an immediate end to the age of Johnson.

So we are left with a plot that no one will lead. Many Tory MPs are left weighing up the chances of someone better than Boris emerging, wondering if they dare risk the treachery of deposing yet another leader mid-term.

As Shakespeare wrote in Measure for Measure: “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.”