THE Tory MP who asked Boris Johnson if he thinks he's a "fool" for following Covid rules has become the latest Conservative to submit a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister.

Aaron Bell, who secured his Newcastle-under-Lyme seat at the 2019 General Election, said that he "could not square" what Johnson said in the Commons about alleged lockdown-breaking parties with his comments before Christmas.

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After Sue Gray's update to the partygate inquiry was published on Monday, Bell was a notable Tory critic of Johnson in the Commons questions of the PM that followed.

In an emotional address, Bell told the House about driving hours to attend his grandmother's funeral in May 2020 and not being able to hug his family due to Covid restrictions.

Following events this week and having had a chance to speak with local councillors on Thursday, Bell wrote in a statement that he had submitted a letter to the head of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs requesting a vote of no confidence in Johnson.

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Bell said: "I wrote my letter following Prime Minister's Questions on January 12th, when I could not square the Prime Minister's words from the despatch box with his previous statements to the House before Christmas. Subsequently, I have also struggled to reconcile assurances given directly to me with the implications of Sue Gray's interim findings.

"As someone who backed Brexit and backed Boris Johnson for the leadership in 2019, I am profoundly disappointed that it has come to this."

Bell was part of the "Red Wall" intake of Tory MPs who won seats in areas that were previously Labour strongholds but votes swung to the Conservatives due to the party's position on Brexit.

He is the latest MP to publicly announce that they have submitted a letter for a vote on Johnson's leadership of the Tory party. More than a dozen have made statements calling for Johnson to resign with many more understood to have submitted letters privately.

If 54 letters are sent to 1922 Committee chair Graham Brady, a confidence vote will be called. If Johnson loses the vote, his time as Prime Minister will end.

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Until the 54 letter threshold is reached Brady does not need to say publicly how many letters he has received but it is understood to be close to 40. 

Many Tories are understood to be waiting for the full publication of the Gray report before casting their verdict.

After stating "huge successes" that Johnson's government delivered, Bell added: "The breach of trust that events in No 10 Downing Street represent, and the manner in which they have been handled makes [Johnson's] position untenable.

"I believe it is in the country's best interests that this matter is resolved as soon as possible."