Senior Ministers Set To Tell PM To Resign; 1922 Agrees On Rule Change

Multiple outlets are reporting that Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis, and Chief Whip Simon Hart are set to tell PM Boris Johnson to resign as Conservative leader once the PM returns to Downing St from his evidence session in front of the Liaison Committee.

• Shapps has been a long-term ally of the PM, and the inclusion of such high-profile figures as the chief whip is a likely sign that Johnson has lost the support of the majority of his Conservative party MPs.
• There has been speculation that Johnson could seek to dig his heels in and trigger a snap general election rather than resign or face a vote of no confidence.
• This could lead to an extremely difficult constitutional situation, given that the PM would not hold the confidence of parliament, therefore putting the monarch in the unenviable position of either acquiescing to the snap election or using the so-called 'Lascelles principles' and seeking an alternative interim PM that could command a working majority in the Commons.
• Also unconfirmed stories that the 1922 Committee has agreed to rule change to allow another confidence vote against PM Johnson: Noa Hoffman at the Sun tweets: "Hearing the 1922 rules have now officially been changed", Alexander Brown at the Scotsman "Am told Tory rebels reckon they're sorted on the 1922 rule change, so will be able to have a new vote of confidence as soon as Monday"