Boris Johnson is reportedly planning a clear-out of his top team at No 10 and a raft of policy announcements after several of his own MPs called on him to resign.

There’s expected to be a series of high profile departures when Sue Gray releases her much-anticipated report into alleged rule-breaking during lockdown.

The PM will also seek to regain support among his backbenches with new policies including clearing the NHS backlog and spending more money in deprived northern towns, The Times reported.

Sources told the paper that some 35 MPs have submitted letters of no confidence in the PM after the damaging party revelations, 19 short of the 54 required to trigger a vote on his future.

With his leadership under-fire, Mr Johnson may try to lay the blame for the crisis on his senior aides.

Martin Reynolds, his principal private secretary who sent an email inviting staff to ‘bring your own booze’ in the No 10 garden during the first coronavirus lockdown, and Mr Reynolds’ deputy Stuart Glassborow are likely to be forced out of Downing Street, according to the newspaper.

No 10 chief of staff Dan Rosenfield’s position could also be at risk, it suggested.

Oliver Dowden, the Conservative Party chairman, has blamed the ‘underlying culture’ at Downing Street for the breaches and said the Prime Minister is committed to addressing it.

A booze ban may be introduced within No 10 to stop staff drinking as Mr Johnson attempts to move on from the controversy.

Only six Tory MPs have so far publicly called for the PM to go amid fears the revelations have done ‘permanent’ damage to the Government.

Former children’s minister Tim Loughton, in a post published on Facebook on Saturday, said: ‘It is not down to a simple Government policy change or a sacking of ministers or officials to put things right.

‘In this case all roads lead back to Downing Street and the person whose name is on the front door.’

Others have decided to wait and see what Ms Gray’s report says before coming off the fence on ‘partygate’.

Conservative former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith labelled the possible lockdown breaches ‘unforgivable’, but he told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips On Sunday programme that the senior civil servant’s report would settle the question of the Prime Minister’s ‘authority and about his decision-making, and whether or not he knew or understood what was going on.’

Meanwhile, Veteran Tory MP Peter Bone told LBC he had found constituents in his Wellingborough seat were ‘clearly in support of the Prime Minister’, while former trade secretary Dr Liam Fox – who was sacked by Mr Johnson – said it was the ‘wrong time’ for a change of leader.

The Liberal Democrats have launched their own plan to unseat the PM, submitting a motion of no confidence in his leadership.

It states that the Prime Minister has ‘broken the Covid lockdown laws his Government introduced, misled both Parliament and the public about it, and disastrously undermined public confidence in the midst of a pandemic’.

The motion has been signed by 18 MPs from four parties, including all 13 Lib Dems, two Labour MPs – Paula Barker and Mick Whitley – two from Plaid Cymru, and Stephen Garry from the Alliance Party.

But the move is likely to fail unless it receives widespread backing from rebel Tory MPs and the Labour Party.

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