REMOVING Boris Johnson from office will trigger a General Election, Jacob Rees-Mogg has insisted.

The Leader of the House of Commons, in what is likely to be a scare tactic to dissuade Tory rebels, claimed the modern precedent was for a new incumbent in Downing Street to go to the polls to seek a fresh mandate.

He told BBC’s Newsnight: “It is my view that we have moved, for better or worse, to essentially a presidential system and that therefore the mandate is personal rather than entirely party, and that any Prime Minister would be very well advised to seek a fresh mandate.”

In reality, there is little precedent for this approach. John Major, Gordon Brown, Theresa May, and even Johnson himself have all become prime minister without calling an immediate election. 

The Prime Minister is braced for further questions over a police investigation into partygate as No 10 awaits the submission of a report into possible lockdown breaches.

According to Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Sue Gray had not, as of Wednesday morning, handed in her findings about alleged coronavirus rule-breaking parties held at the top of Government.

The senior civil servant’s inquiry had been expected to be finalised this week, with reports suggesting it could be published to coincide with Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, or possibly on Thursday.

Meanwhile, police launched their own probe into multiple events in No 10 after being passed information from the Gray inquiry.

Sky News reported officials have handed over to investigators photos of parties in Downing Street which include images of Johnson. The broadcaster said the pictures show people close together with wine bottles.

The FT stated the final report was likely to list Gray’s conclusions but that it would not include a “significant amount of evidence” from interviews, such as photos or messages.

According to the New Statesman, the Prime Minister and his wife Carrie have been taken aback at the public’s anger after it was revealed they flouted lockdown rules.

“Boris and Carrie Johnson do not believe they have done anything wrong, as they consider gatherings among those on Downing Street during the pandemic to have been part of a ‘household bubbble’”.

However, the report pointed out that it was a serious strecth to consider the 100-room Downing Street complex as a “household”.

The National: Jacob Rees-Mogg, Leader of the House of Commons

Rees-Mogg, asked whether the Prime Minister should resign if there is a photograph of him at a drinks party in No 10, urged for people to wait for Gray’s report to be published.

“Trying to speculate on bits of gossip and tittle-tattle around the report doesn’t really get us anywhere,” he added.

On Wednesday morning, Truss claimed there could be “security issues” which mean parts of the Gray report are “problematic to publish”.

READ MORE: Kevin McKenna: Ankle tags and celibacy orders ... how we ought to punish Boris Johnson and his Tories

Asked if the report will be published in full, the Foreign Secretary told Sky News: “We have been absolutely clear that we will publish the findings of the report.

“We don’t know the content of the report, so there could be, for example, security issues that mean parts of it are problematic to publish. But we will absolutely publish the findings of the report.”

She also denied she had attended or ever been invited to any of the parties.

Asked if Johnson should resign if he has broken the law or misled Parliament, Truss replied: “The Prime Minister has appeared before Parliament, he has apologised for what has happened.

“He’s admitted that mistakes were made and I 100% support him, and want him to continue as Prime Minister.”

Northern Ireland minister Conor Burns had come out to bat for Johnson the previous evening.

He defended Johnson’s presence at a surprise birthday bash in the Cabinet room on June 19, 2020, when social events indoors were banned, saying he had been “ambushed with a cake”.

Burns said it was “not a premeditated, organised party”, adding: “They came to his office with a cake, they sang Happy Birthday, he was there for 10 minutes.

“I don’t think most people looking at that at home would characterise that as a party.”

The chairman of the Committee on Standards of Public life warned on Wednesday morning that Johnson could attempt “jiggery-pokery” by publishing Gray’s report just before PMQs to avoid being questioned on its findings.

Chris Bryant said the Prime Minister was likely intending to “manipulate Parliament” once the report by the senior civil servant into possible lockdown breaches across Government is handed over to No10.

The Labour MP for Rhondda said the timing of the publication would determine whether or not the leader of the opposition could respond properly in the House of Commons.

Asked about possible delays to its publication, he told BBC R4’s Today programme: “I have a suspicion that that may be that Sue Gray noted that the Prime Minister was intending to do a bit of jiggery-pokery by publishing the report at noon just as he stood up for Prime Minister’s Questions and expecting the leader of the opposition in Parliament to be able to respond.

“I’ve seen this too many times when governments just try to get far too clever and try to manipulate Parliament.

“Sue Gray should publish according to her own timetable. All of her reports should be published in full, both the finding and the workings, because they will be just as important for people to determine what happened and that should be published with plenty of time for Parliament to be able to read it, respond to it and go to the Prime Minister with it.”