A TORY MP has become the first to confirm he has sent a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson.

Sir Roger Gale has publicly said that he has sent his letter to the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady.

Under party rules, if the committee chairman receives 54 letters in favour, he will be required to stage a vote.

While most of the necessary letters are believed to have been drafted, may are not expected to be sent to Brady soon. However, North Thanet MP Gale believes that Johnson will not lead the Tories into the next General Election in 2024.

While Johnson is engulfed in scandal, Gale said that his letter of no confidence was sent in the wake of Dominic Cummings's trip to Barnard Castle last year. It is believed to still be valid.

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The chair of the 1922 Committee never reveals how many letters have been sent until they reach the tipping point.

“I put in a letter to Sir Graham Brady after the Barnard Castle incident, because that gave a message to me that this was not the kind of leadership that I believe the Conservative Party needed,” Gale told the BBC.

“I have no idea at all how many other people - if any other people - have written that kind of letter and Sir Graham Brady would certainly not reveal how many he’s got until and unless the trigger point is reached.”

He continued: “We don’t need a leadership election at the moment. We need to concentrate on getting people vaccinated on getting on with the job of government.

“But I think that’s coming down the track.

“I would personally be surprised if Mr Johnson fought the next General Election, but I’m one person - only one person.

“If you’re going to change your leader, you don’t do it just before a general election, so I think that may be coming down the track.”

It has been a week peppered with woes for the Prime Minister – starting with a major rebellion in the Commons over Covid-19 measures, and ending with a stinging defeat in a by-election for what has traditionally been a safe Tory seat.

In the intervening days, fresh allegations have emerged of a pizza party held in Downing Street during the first lockdown, while the police said they would make contact with two people who attended a gathering at Conservative Party HQ in December last year.

Meanwhile, an investigation by Cabinet Secretary Simon Case into events alleged to have taken place in Downing Street and the Department for Education in November and December 2020 continues.

The Conservative Party leader also faces allegations that he misled his ethics adviser over what he knew about a controversial refurbishment of his No 11 flat.

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Perhaps the biggest blow to Johnson this week – and one that has led some to signal he is on thin ice – was the loss of the Tories’ ultra-safe seat in North Shropshire in Thursday’s by-election.

The contest was triggered by the resignation of Owen Paterson, with many Tories still angry at the Government’s botched attempt to get him off the hook after he broke the rules on paid lobbying by MPs.

LibDem candidate Helen Morgan sailed to victory by 5925 votes, with opposition parties and Conservative MPs quick to seize on the result as a verdict on the Government’s performance.