Rebel Tory MPs believe Prime Minister Boris Johnson could trigger an early general election in a bid to save his job amid the Partygate scandal.
The Daily Mail reported that anti-BoJo backbenchers feared he would call a snap general election this autumn and let voters decide whether he stays in 10 Downing Street.
But the newspaper quoted Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden calling an early poll a recipe for electoral disaster.
A number of former government loyalists recently joined Johnson's long-standing enemies on the back benches in calling for an internal party leadership contest after the Metropolitan Police slapped him with two fines — reported to be £50 each — for being present at work social events during the first two COVID-19 lockdowns on 202o and early 2021.
One unnamed MP told the Mail they were “deadly serious” in their belief that Johnson could seek the popular mandate to form another government in the autumn, especially if he wins a confidence vote before the summer.
Another source said that if Johnson faced a serious choice between being ousted by his own party and going to the polls, many believe that he will pick the latter.
“He could try to run another anti-establishment campaign pitching himself against MPs in parliament, that’s what we most fear”, the source argued.
The claims came after election strategist David Canzini, a former Tory campaign director who was appointed in February as the PM’s new deputy chief of staff, reportedly warned government advisers to prepare “for a general election at any time”.
This came after Johnson, his wife Carrie and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak were fined last week by the Metropolitan Police over a surprise birthday party thrown for the Prime Minister in the Cabinet Room in June 2020 amid strict COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Johnson is believed to have attended at least two more of the 12 events still being investigated by the Met Police.
The prime minister apologised to the House of Commons for the gathering in June 2020, but insisted he did not believe at the time it was a breach of coronavirus rules.
In a separate development, a total of 46 letters calling for a vote of no confidence in the PM have already been sent to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench Conservative 1922 Committee, according to sources. If that figure is correct, only another eight are needed to set a Tory leadership contest in motion.
Parliament is typically dissolved 25 days before a general election. By law, the next election must take place on or before January 24 2025.
Legislation introduced in 2011 during former Conservative PM David Cameron's coalition government with the Liberal Democrats abolished sitting leaders' power to call a snap election with the consent of the Queen — frequently used to resolve political crises and break deadlocks in Parliament. Dissolving the House of Commons now requires a two-thirds majority of MPs in favour. Johnson's government has vowed to repeal that law.
As for the rules related to calling a UK general election, Polling Day typically comes 25 days after the dissolution of parliament. Given that the current parliament first met on 17 December 2019, it will be automatically disbanded on 17 December 2024, which means that the next general election is scheduled to take place in January 2025.
The opposition Labour Party's hopes of claiming Johnson's scalp over Partygate took a blow this week after police in county Durham re-opened an investigation into a social event at a local party office attended by leader Sir Keir Starmer in April 2021. Labour was forced to admit that Starmer's deputy Angela Rayner was present at the event after video evidence emerged, claiming months of denials were a "mistake made in good faith".