MP Steve Barclay today backed his boss – and political mentor – Boris Johnson to remain as prime minister.

The NE Cambs MP and chief of staff to the prime minister said the size of the Conservative Party majority in the Commons “is incredibly rare.

“To waste time now on continued internal factionalisaton would be indefensible to many of our party members – given how hard they worked to secure that majority.”

In an article published on the Conservative Home website, he says the priority is to focus on getting the job done.

"Or we can choose to waste time and energy looking backwards and inwards, talking to ourselves about ourselves,” he wrote.

“In my view, politics is always about the future – because the people who elect us are focused on the challenges and opportunities ahead, not the debates of yesterday.

“That is why the next general election will be decided on who offers the best vision for the future of the United Kingdom, not on prior mistakes or successes.”

He said MPs had already “lost half of this Parliament to Covid.

"That is not the fault of the Prime Minister or of Conservative MPs – and our constituents understand that.

“But it will be our fault entirely if we choose to waste the remaining half of the parliament on distractions over leadership”.

“The country faces many pressing challenges right now – so we must focus on what matters to the livelihoods of constituents rather than the obsessions of those on social media.”