Priti Patel tells Tories pushing for Boris Johnson’s resignation to 'forget it'

Home Secretary Priti Patel has told Tory MPs pushing for the Prime Minister to resign to “forget it”. Ms Patel said writing letters of no-confidence in Boris Johnson was a “sideshow” and the party should be focused on “real challenges that we have to find solutions to”.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, she said: “This isn’t about a parade (of leadership candidates) or a contest of letters. We need to concentrate on doing our jobs. Look at what is going on in the world right now, look at the challenges that we face domestically. We can’t ignore those.

“Our job is to deliver on the people’s priorities. They won’t thank the Conservative Party for talking about itself at a time when people have anxieties, concerns, apprehensions.”

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Ms Patel also said she thought leadership rows should not overshadow the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Earlier, Boris Johnson claimed quitting as Prime Minister over the “miserable” partygate scandal would be irresponsible and denied suggestions he is a “habitual liar”.

He cited “huge pressures” on the economy, the war in Ukraine and his “massive agenda which I was elected to deliver” as his reasons for remaining in his post and not seeking to “abandon” ship.

But Mr Johnson is under increasing pressure from Tory MPs to consider his position in the wake of Sue Gray’s report on lockdown parties in Downing Street. Simon Fell, elected Conservative MP for Barrow and Furness in 2019, was the latest to be reported to have raised concerns and criticised the “corrosive culture and a failure of leadership” that allowed the incidents to happen.

Mr Johnson’s own ethics adviser also criticised his