Boris Johnson’s premiership was hanging in the balance as Conservative MPs began openly calling for his resignation after he admitted attending a garden party in lockdown, claiming he thought it was a “work event”.

Johnson delivered a carefully worded apology for attending the alcohol-fuelled gathering of up to 40 officials in May 2020, which was described in an email invitation as “socially distanced drinks” to enjoy the warm weather.

Some cabinet ministers later tweeted their qualified support for the prime minister. The culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, said Johnson had been “right to personally apologise” because people were “hurt and angry at what happened”. She said it was now right to await the findings of senior civil servant Sue Gray's inquiry into Downing Street gatherings. The findings could come as soon as the end of next week but more likely the week after, a cabinet source suggested.

One former minister was less convinced, saying Johnson “didn’t apologise for what he did but for things that may or may not have happened which he officially knows nothing about until Sue Gray tells him about it”.

Another MP said: “I’ve not seen such a half-arsed apology since my child apologised for spilling all the milk.”

One frontbencher said: “There’s a sense of relief that he made the apology but there’s a sense of anticipation about the report and whether the police get involved. We are in purgatory.”

There was silence for much of the day from the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, the two people tipped as most likely to succeed Johnson. Explaining that he had been “on a visit all day”, Sunak gave a lukewarm response on Twitter on Wednesday evening, saying Johnson was “right to apologise and I support his request for patience while Sue Gray carries out her enquiry”.

Just over an hour later, Truss tweeted that she stood behind Johnson “100%”, while foreign minister James Cleverly and Steve Barclay, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, both lent their support.

After Johnson’s statement, one of the Conservatives’ most senior backbenchers, William Wragg, and Douglas Ross, the leader of the party in Scotland, publicly called for Johnson to resign, saying his position had become untenable.

Late on Wednesday night, former minister Caroline Nokes added her voice to those calling for the prime minister’s resignation. Speaking to ITV’s Peston, she said Johnson was in an “impossible position”, adding: “He either goes now, or he goes in three years’ time at a general election, and it’s up to the party to decide which way around that’s going to be. I know my thoughts are that he’s damaging us now.”

Some MPs were openly discussing sending letters to the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee, Graham Brady, demanding a vote of no confidence in Johnson. Brady will not reveal how many letters he has received until the threshold for the vote of 54 is reached, but one former minister suggested the number may be about 25.

(Source: The Guardian)