BORIS Johnson will face a leadership vote within hours after the threshold of Tories demanding he quits has been hit, rebels claim.
Mutineers expect party bigwig Sir Graham Brady to announce this morning that more than 54 Conservative MPs have submitted no confidence letters.
A Downing Street source told The Sun they also “would not be surprised” if the threshold has been met.
It would set up a dramatic secret ballot in the coming days – likely Tuesday or Wednesday – in which Tory MPs will decide Mr Johnson's fate.
The PM has vowed to fight tooth and nail to squash the revolt and stay in Downing Street.
Cabinet Minister Sajid Javid said this morning that if a vote is triggered the PM "will fight his corner with a very, very strong case."
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But if the size of the mutiny surpasses 180 MPs he will be kicked out of No10 and a fresh contest for the Tory crown will take place.
Disgruntled rebels seized on voters booing the PM this weekend as he attended a Platinum Jubilee service at St Paul's Cathedral.
A steady drumbeat of rebellion has been building since the Sue Gray report into lockdown-busting bashes was published last month.
A lack of action to tackle the cost of living crisis has also been cited as rebel reasons for Mr Johnson to go.
This morning ex-finance minister Jesse Norman broke cover as the latest Tory MP to join the rebellion.
Writing a long letter of no confidence, he said: "I have supported Boris Johnson for 15 years, for the London Mayoralty and for PM.
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"Very sadly, I have written to him to say I can no longer do so".
Anxious MPs Mr Johnson is not the electoral superstar who wonlandslide in 2019 and fear they will lose their seats if he leads the party into the next election.
The Tories are on course to lose two crunch byelections later this month.
A brutal briefing being shared warns the PM “is no longer an electoral asset and, if left in post, will lead the Party to a substantial defeat in 2024”.
They fear 160 Tory MPs could lose their seats with Boris still in No10 turning a “defeat into a landslide”.
The briefing says: “The entire purpose of the government now appears to be the sustenance of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.
"MPs are having to defend the indefensible, not for the sake of the party, but for one man."
But No10 chief of staff Steve Barclay slammed rebellious colleagues and said "continued internal factionalisaton would be indefensible".
Mr Johnson has apologised for Partygate and begged the nation to move on so he can focus on the cost of living crisis and Ukraine.
He hopes to reset the agenda by focusing on health and with a new right-to-buy scheme for housing association tenants, unveiled in a key speech on Thursday.
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