Boris Johnson to face vote of no confidence today

Result will be known within hours

A vote of no confidence will be held in Boris Johnson today, Sir Graham Brady has confirmed.

The news came at around 8am as follows: "The threshold of 15 per cent of the parliamentary party seeking a vote of confidence in the leader of the Conservative Party has been exceeded.

"In accordance with the rules, a ballot will be held between 18:00 and 20:00 today MONDAY 6th JUNE - details to be confirmed.

"The votes will be counted immediately afterwards. An announcement will be made at a time to be advised."

The announcement follows weeks of speculation over the PM's position as a result of the partygate scandal and comes after Johnson and his wife were booed by crowds attending events as part of the Queen's platinum jubilee. 

Brady is chair of the 1922 Committee of Conservative MPs. At least 54 letter of no confidence must be recieved by that committee to trigger a vote on the future of the prime minister.

When asked if he himself had submitted a such a letter, Brady told journalists: "I'm not going to answer that question."

However, he confirmed that some Tory MPs had asked to delay the process until after the jubilee celebrations. When asked if some had post-dated their letters, Brady said: "That is not a bad description of events."

Brexiteer Andrew Bridgen has told the BBC that "there has been quite a lot of intimidation within the party to suppress the letters" but negative poll numbers had influenced decisions, adding: "It’s not normal for a Conservative PM to be booed outside St Paul's Cathedral."

However, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: "The Prime Minister has my full support, and I will be voting to back him tonight. He is showing tremendous leadership as we face major challenges at home and abroad. I have no doubt that my colleagues in the Parliamentary party will vote to show their confidence in the Prime Minister."