Who were the seven Tories that backed Boris Johnson in humiliating vote?

For all the bluster that Boris Johnson’s still loyal band of MPs have been putting up in front of the cameras over recent days, only seven MPs voted in his favour on the findings of the privileges committee.

By comparison, 118 Tories voted in favour of the report's findings, with MPs on both sides of the chamber condemning Johnson and praising the report on a humiliating night for the former PM.

Some of Johnson’s allies appeared to boycott the vote. However, the likes of former prime minister Theresa May, Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt and Education Secretary Gillian Keegan were among the senior Conservatives who supported the report's findings and hit out at Johnson during Monday’s debate.

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Prime minister Rishi Sunak didn’t bother to show up to the debate and No. 10 claimed he was too busy hosting the Swedish PM to attend the vote.

Johnson resigned ahead of the report's findings earlier this monthDan Kitwood/Getty Images

A Downing Street spokesperson said the prime minister’s schedule on Monday “doesn’t include attending parliament” and that he has commitments he “can’t move”.

But who were the Tory MPs who backed Johnson in the humiliating vote? Only six of the seven MPs have been revealed, and they’re listed below.

Sir Bill Cash

Veteran Brexiteer Sir Bill Cash has served as a Tory MP since 1984, first as MP for Stafford and then for Stone.

During the vote he spoke about the principles governing whether a minister has misled parliament and should resign and highlighted a previous resolution which stated it must have been “knowingly” done.

Nick Fletcher

Nick Fletcher has been the Conservative MP for Don Valley since 2019.

You may remember he was in the news a few years ago after he tried to claim that women stepping into male television and film roles were pushing young British men into a life of crime.

During the International Men’s Day debate in parliament in 2021, the Tory MP complained of calls from “a tiny, yet very vocal minority, that every male character or good role model must have a female replacement”.

"Is it any wonder we are seeing so many young men committing crime?” he added.

Adam Holloway

Adam Holloway/Twitter

Holloway, who had previously worked as an investigative reporter for ITN and ITV, has been an MP for Gravesam in Kent since 2005.

In June 2022, he attacked BBC Newsnight by claiming that the show had portrayed the prime minister Johnson as “Hannibal Lecter”.

Adam Holloway claimed that the media had tried to alter Mr Johnson’s image during the investigation of the “Partygate” scandal.

“There is great damage to the reputation of politics and it should also do damage to organisations like the BBC,” he said. “This programme I am on now showed pictures of him looking like Hannibal Lecter at the beginning. I can show you here.”

Karl McCartney

McCartney has been the MP for Lincoln since 2019. Before then, he served as MP in the constituency from 2010-2017.

In 2016 he made headlines by claiming that boys are becoming increasingly disadvantaged in school due to the system becoming “over-feminised”.

That same year he hit out at the “shrill equal pay brigade”, claiming that campaigners are ignoring evidence when they talk about the gender pay gap.

Joy Morrissey

Joy Morrissey has served as MP for Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire since 2019.

The American-born MP previously said she had written a letter criticising Johnson for damaging the UK’s international reputation “in error” back in 2021 – a week after being appointed Johnson’s parliamentary private secretary in a reshuffle.

Heather Wheeler

Wheeler has served as MP for South Derbyshire since 2010.

Last year she was forced to apologise for describing Birmingham and Blackpool as “godawful” places.

The MP said she made an “inappropriate remark that does not reflect my actual view” at a conference on Thursday.

Her apology followed reports that she appeared to go off script at an event to launch the Government’s new digital strategy, saying: “I was just at a conference in Blackpool or Birmingham or somewhere godawful.”

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