"Absolutely crackers": Greater Manchester's Tory MPs voice support for Boris Johnson amid no confidence vote

Two red wall Conservative MPs have voiced early support for the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, after a vote of no confidence in his leadership was announced this morning. Both MPs, who won traditional Labour seats in 2019's general election, criticised their fellow party members for triggering the vote, which will take place this evening.

The vote of no confidence was confirmed by Altrincham and Sale West MP and chair of the 1922 committee, Sir Graham Brady, this morning, with a press release stating that the threshold for 15 per cent of the Conservative party seeking a vote of no confidence had been met. Heywood and Middleton's Chris Clarkson and Leigh's James Grundy have offered their full support to Mr Johnson via social media, despite both holding slim majorities in their seats.

The number of letters received from Sir Brady has been steadily rising amid backlash to the 'Partygate' scandal and scathing Sue Grey report which outlined a culture law breaking in Number 10 during Covid-19 lockdowns. The government's response to the cost-of-living crisis has also contributed to diminishing confidence in Boris Johnson's leadership.

READ MORE:LIVE: Boris Johnson will face vote of confidence TODAY and could be ousted as Prime Minister

Mr Clarkson, who won his Heywood and Middleton seat by just 663 votes from Labour, is heavily critical of his Tory colleagues. In a Tweet, he said: "Absolutely crackers.

"This is a handful of malcontents who haven't provided and coherent alternative plan for the country (unless you count Tobias Ellwood's call to ignore the referendum result) - it's an exercise is ego fluffing and it'll only help Labour." This Tweet has been followed by several retweets of other Tories backing Mr Johnson.

Mr