Boris Johnson was backed in Monday night’s confidence vote by David Davies, while the Monmouth MP’s Tory neighbour savaged the PM before joining the rebellion.

The Welsh Office Minister was one of the PM’s 211 supporters, but South Herefordshire MP Jesse Norman, whose constituency border lies north of Abergavenny, blasted his leadership as a “charade”.

No less than 148 backbench Tory MPs voted to remove the leader on Monday, meaning that some 75 per cent of all the party’s backbenchers called for the PM to go in the wake of the Partygate revelations.

Mr Davies said before the vote: “Boris Johnson was elected with a landslide majority. He has delivered Brexit, taken us through the Covid pandemic and been in the forefront of support for Ukraine.

“I will certainly be backing him.”

And in a post, he added: “My father died in June 2020 during lockdown.

“At that time, as a Minister, I saw first hand, including at COBR meetings, how determined Boris was to saving lives and getting our country through.

“His commitment was absolute and I have no hesitation in backing him today.”

That was in contrast to former Treasury minister Mr Norman, who in a letter to the PM on Monday said the Gray report into Partygate lockdown breaches in and around Downing Street showed Mr Johnson had “presided over a culture of casual law-breaking”.

“To describe yourself as ‘vindicated’ by the report is grotesque,” he added.

Mr Norman, whose constituency includes Pontrilas, Ewyas Harold and Longtown, added that the PM’s current policy priorities were “deeply questionable”.

“Breach of the Northern Ireland Protocol would be economically very damaging, politically foolhardy, and almost certainly illegal,” he blasted.

“You are the leader of the Conservative and Unionist party, yet you are putting the Union itself gravely at risk.”

He described the Government’s Rwanda policy as “ugly”, and the privatisation of Channel 4 as “an unnecessary and provocative attempt to address a political non-issue during a time of crisis, at significant cost to the independent UK film and TV industry”.

He also slammed the Government’s crackdown on “noisy protest”.

And he stormed: “Under you the Government seems to lack a sense of mission. It has a large majority, but no long-term plan…

“You are simply seeking to campaign, to keep changing the subject and to create political and cultural dividing lines mainly for your advantage, at a time when the economy is struggling, inflation is soaring and growth is anaemic at best.

“Sensible planning has been replaced by empty rhetoric.”

And saying that he had handed in a letter of no confidence to the 1922 committee, he added: “For you to prolong this charade by remaining in office not only insults the electorate, and the tens of thousands of people who support, volunteer, represent, and campaign for our party; it makes a decisive change of government at the next election much more likely.

“This is potentially catastrophic for the country.”

Following the vote, Welsh Liberal leader and Mid and West Wales Senedd member Jane Dodds said: “The situation is clearer than ever before, a divided Conservative party is propping up Boris Johnson with no plan to tackle the issues facing the Welsh public.

“It continues to be one rule for them and another for the rest of us. Boris Johnson is a liar and lawbreaker who isn’t fit to remain Prime Minister for a moment longer.

“Lifelong Conservatives are appalled and continue to turn towards the Liberal Democrats who they know work hard and focus on what matters.

“At present, it seems Welsh Conservative MPs are set to remain out-of-touch with the people of Wales.”