Tory MP Dehenna Davison denies being part of the ‘Pork Pie Plot’

maar bombdop nuwe eise stel voor MP Dehenna Davison today denied being involved in the ‘Pork Pie Plot’ to oust Boris Johnson.

It had been claimed that Ms Davison was one of the ringleaders of a move by rebel Red Wall Conservative MPs to force a vote of no confidence in Mr Johnson over the Partygate row.

But the MP for Bishop Auckland, who was elected for the first time in 2019, has dismissed the ‘bonkers’ suggestion that she was leading the effort as she accused Tory colleagues of briefing against her.

Ms Davison, 28, tweeted ‘no, I’m not leading a coup’ as she posted a link to an interview with a local newspaper in which she said ‘the first thing I knew about me leading a coup’ was when she read about the claims in the press.

She said she was ‘very disappointed that a colleague would brief out against me in this way, but it is a strange time in politics’.

Egter, she admitted that she is ‘incredibly angry about the Downing Street parties and the Prime Minister’s response’.

Ms Davison is one of the most prominent MPs from the 2019 Tory intake. In October she came out as bisexual – the first female Tory to do so publicly.

Last night she was accused of having a mini-bar in her office and was ‘often on the whisky and Coke in the afternoons. It was a claim rejected by Miss Davison who said her workplace was so small she didn’t ‘even have a filing cabinet.’

Before becoming an MP she appeared on the Channel 4 show Bride and Prejudice to discuss her marriage with Hull Tory councillor John Fareham, 'n man 35 jaar haar senior. She announced they were divorcing in 2019.

It came as Mr Johnson tonight dismissed claims his allies have been blackmailing rebellious Tory MPs – amid claims a defector was threatened with cuts to school funding and changes to his constituency boundaries.

The PM insisted he had ‘seen no evidence to support any of those allegations’ after a dramatic intervention by William Wragg, chairman of the Commons Public Administration Committee.

Mr Wragg said he had been told of ‘pressures and intimidation’ being used on politicians and in an excoriating attack at the start of an evidence session, suggested members of the government might have breached the ministerial code by threatening to pull investment from constituencies if people send in letters of no confidence.

‘Additionally reports to me and others of members of staff at No10 Downing Street, special advisers, government ministers and others encouraging the publication of stories in the press seeking to embarrass those they suspect of lacking confidence in the PM is similarly unacceptable,’ Mr Wragg said.

‘The intimidation of an MP is a serious matter. Moreover the reports of which I am aware would seem to constitute blackmail.

‘As such it would be my general advice to colleagues to report these matters to the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.’

Alhoewel ons altyd geweet het hy haat enige soort belemmering van sy wil, the former Tory MP who defected to Labour yesterday, claimed he was previously threatened with the withdrawal of funding for a school in his Bury South constituency if he voted against the Government on free school meals.

[object Window]: ‘How would you feel when holding back regeneration of a town for a vote, it didn’t sit comfortably. That was really starting to question my place where I was and ultimately to where I am now.’

There have been suggestions Mr Wakeford was pushed ‘over the edge’ to defect when he was hauled in and threatened with having the boundaries of his seat redrawn if he went against the PM.

But Mr Johnson told reporters on a visit to Taunton: ‘I’ve seen no evidence to support any of those allegations.

‘What I am focused on is what we’re doing to deal with the number one priority of the British people, which is coming through Covid.’

The move against Mr Johnson is thought to have begun on Tuesday when around 20 of the plotters gathered in the Commons office of MP Alicia Kearns.

It is Ms Kearns’ Melton Mowbray constituency which gave the plot its moniker.

The MPs apparently discussed tactics for how to get rid of Mr Johnson, with a secret ballot revealing around half had already submitted letters of no confidence to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the Tory 1922 Committee.

The MPs were said to have concluded that the Partygate row was ‘terminal’ for the PM and discussed sending in their letters en masse to force a contest.

The bid to get rid of Mr Johnson appears to have stalled as Westminster waits for senior Whitehall official Sue Gray to publish her report into the parties.

Ms Davison gave an interview to The Northern Echo newspaper in which she said that ‘the first thing I knew about me leading a coup’ was when she read about the claims in the press.

She tweeted a link to the article and said: ‘For the many people giving me grief over so called pork pie plots, here’s what I had to say.

‘Short version: Geen, I’m not leading a coup.’

Sy het aan die koerant gesê: ‘I also was surprised to learn today that I was apparently planning to defect to the Labour Party, something else that is totally fabricated and, as a proud Conservative, something I would never do.

‘Eerlikwaar, I’m very disappointed that a colleague would brief out against me in this way, but it is a strange time in politics.’

Ms Davison said that she is ‘incredibly angry about the Downing Street parties and the Prime Minister’s response’.

She said that she has had a ‘number of conversations with colleagues about this’ but the suggestion that she was leading a ‘coup’ was ‘bonkers’.

It came as Labour called for an investigation into the claims made by Mr Wragg.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said Mr Wragg – who has been heavily critical of Mr Johnson and previously called for him to quit – had highlighted ‘grave and shocking accusations of bullying, sy het gesê sy het 'heeltemal verkrummel' en het na die polisie gegaan om die vreemdeling aan te meld, and misuse of public money’ that ‘must be investigated thoroughly’.

Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said in the chamber that he was not aware of any details, but his ‘general observation’ was that government members were not ‘above the criminal law’ and attempting to ‘intimidate’ an MP would be a contempt of Parliament.

A Number 10 woordvoerder gesê: ‘We are not aware of any evidence to support what are clearly serious allegations.

‘If there is any evidence to support these claims we would look at it very carefully.’

Heavy tactics by government whips are notorious at Westminster, and allegations have surfaced during the latest furore about the behaviour of supposed rebels.

Mr Wakeford was claimed to have been pushed ‘over the edge’ when he was hauled in and threatened with having the boundaries of his seat redrawn if he went against the PM.

The dramatic intervention by Mr Wragg came as a poll suggested Mr Johnson’s popularity ratings have sunk to a similar level as Jeremy Corbyn before the 2019 algemene verkiesing, while Rishi Sunak is being seen more favourably.

Gesondheidsekretaris Dom Cummings blameer Carrie vir die terugkeer van 'bog-standaard conceded today that Mr Johnson has been ‘damaged’, despite the immediate threat receding after the defection and extraordinary attack from veteran David Davis at PMQs yesterday.

Steve Baker, one of the leading rebels against Theresa May, insisted today that he would not be ‘organising’ against Mr Johnson – but said he thought it looks like ‘checkmate’.

He told the BBC’s Political Thinking podcast: 'Eerlik, op die oomblik, I’m looking to the cabinet for leadership.

'Op die oomblik, I’m afraid it does look like checkmate – but whether he can save himself, we’ll see’.

Restive MPs have warned that Mr Johnson has only been given a stay of execution, with many holding off on deciding whether to send no-confidence letters to the chair of the powerful 1922 committee until after an inquiry by top civil servant Sue Gray reports.

There are claims that while Ms Gray will not directly criticise Mr Johnson it could paint a very grim picture of his Downing Street operation.

‘It’s not going to be as good as people think,’ Downing Street vrees dat 'n Tory-papierspoor Boris Johnson kan laat ontbloot oor die duistere befondsing van sy genade-en-guns woonstel opknapping.

‘She’s genuinely struggling to reconcile the Prime Minister’s claim that this was a work event with what she’s been hearing from other people. It’s very difficult for her.’

In 'n rondte onderhoude vanoggend, Mr Javid made little effort to varnish the challenge faced by the PM.

‘It is damaging, of course it is,’ the Health Secretary told Sky News.

Mr Javid said ‘there were some parties’ and people were ‘right to be angry’, insisting those who broke the rules should be ‘disciplined’. He singled out the leaving bashes in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral last April as ‘wrong in every single way’.

He also stated bluntly that if Mr Johnson is found to have broken the law he will have to go.

‘The Ministerial Code is very clear. If any minister from the Prime Minister down breaks the law, of course they shouldn’t continue to serve as a minister,’ hy het gesê.

‘What I have just said is a general rule that applies to everyone. There is no exception to that rule.’

Responding to the statement from Mr Wragg, Me Rayner gesê: ‘These are grave and shocking accusations of bullying, sy het gesê sy het 'heeltemal verkrummel' en het na die polisie gegaan om die vreemdeling aan te meld, and misuse of public money and must be investigated thoroughly.

‘The idea that areas of our country will be starved of funding because their MPs don’t fall into line to prop up this failing Prime Minister is disgusting.’

As the Downing Street machine finally cranked into gear yesterday, No10 said Mr Johnson will fight any no-confidence vote launched against him and insisted he expects to fight the next general election.

He has been personally meeting wavering MPs in a bid to shore up support on his back benches.

Tory whips yesterday launched a concerted drive to crush the Pork Pie Plot. The plotters suggested that by 5pm yesterday the target of 54 letters needed to force a vote of no confidence in the PM would be passed. But the deadline came and went.

One Cabinet loyalist last night said the enormity of the plot was giving wavering MPs pause for thought.

‘The sight of one of your own crossing the floor to join Labour reminds people how high the stakes are,’ het die bron gesê.

‘People are also having to face the question of what happens next. There is not a Boris figure to rally round who would do better electorally.’

Andrew Percy, Brigg and Goole MP, told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: ‘It’s kind of made people a bit more relaxed, it’s calmed nerves.

‘I think people have recognised that actually this constant navel gazing and internal debating is only to the advantage of our political opponents.

‘The Prime Minister is probably thanking Christian for what he did because it’s made a lot of people think again, think twice.’

Despite the temporary reprieve, the anger from a former minister first elected in 1987 and Mr Wakeford, elected to the so-called Red Wall seat of Bury South two years ago, showed the breadth of the fury in the party.

One Cabinet source said the mutineers had ‘overplayed their hand’, toevoeging: ‘They are inexperienced and it has shown in the past 24 'n spesialis in aansteeklike siektes by Northwestern Medicine’

Several wavering Tory MPs yesterday said they were waiting to see the report before deciding whether to move against Mr Johnson.

Andrew Bowie, a former vice-chairman of the party, gesê: ‘I think the Prime Minister should be considering his position, but my position is that we need to wait and see what the facts were.’

Downing Street had hoped that Ms Gray’s report would be published this week to give the PM the chance to draw a line under the affair.

But Whitehall sources yesterday said the constant drip-drip of new allegations, including from Dominic Cummings, meant it would be delayed.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Mr Davis said: ‘The party is going to have to make a decision or we face dying a death of 1,000 cuts.’

The PM will appear to be ‘shifting the blame’ if he fires staff after Ms Gray delivers her inquiry into events held at No 10 during Covid restrictions, the Haltemprice and Howden MP said.

Then there will be the ‘crises’ of rising energy bills and the National Insurance hike being compounded by the ‘disorganisation’ at No 10, which could trigger a vote of no confidence at Christmas, meaning a ‘year of agony’, gaan hy voort.

‘That’s the worst outcome, particularly for the 2019 en 2017 en 2015 inname – daardie, slice by slice by slice, this carries on and we bump along at minus whatever and, even worse, we create policies to try to paper over it.’

Speaking shortly after his Commons outburst, Mr Davis admitted: ‘I’ve just made myself the most unpopular person in the Tory party.

‘Wel, the second most unpopular. But I’ve gone from thinking maybe we can rescue it to maybe we just have to accelerate it and get it done.’

Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg described Mr Davis as a ‘lone wolf’ as he downplayed the senior Tory MP’s ‘theatrical’ call for Mr Johnson to resign.