UK Home Secretary Priti Patel became the latest senior cabinet minister to withdraw her support for Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party after UK media reports said she is part of a contingent of ministers with an ultimatum for the prime minister to step down.
The Indian-origin minister has said she has no plans of resigning after Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid made their dramatic exit from the Cabinet, leading to a flurry of ministerial and government aide resignations now adding up to 38.
But The Times was the first to report on Wednesday evening that a hardcore Boris loyalist had stepped down to join a Cabinet ministerial delegation to 10 Downing Street to let him know that time is up on his leadership. The BBC confirmed that she and Nadhim Zahawi, the newly appointed Chancellor to replace Sunak, were among the group of ministers who threatened to resign unless Johnson accepts his time in Downing Street.
Patel, 50, is joined by other loyalists such as UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Welsh Secretary Simon Hart. The delegation of senior politicians, including Policing Minister Kit Malthouse, new Education Secretary Michelle Donelan and Chief Whip Chris Heaton-Harris, are believed to have told Johnson that his position as PM is now unsustainable.
It follows a day of high political drama in the heart of Westminster politics in London with minister after minister stepping down believed to be the highest number of resignations in a single day since the 1930s in the UK.
The debate is now about how this drama would end, whether Johnson would resign or continue to hold on to his colossal mandate from the electorate and demand a leadership election.
After he won the last no-confidence vote in June, the influential Committee of Conservative Party backbenchers are holding urgent meetings with a view to make necessary rule changes so that Johnson can face a vote under the one-year timeframe currently in place.
Johnson remained bullish after he was asked if he would still be prime minister tomorrow, despite a grilling from the Parliament's powerful Liaison Committee. Asked about the mass exodus unfolding within his government, Johnson replied that the government of the country is being carried on with an ever-increasing energy. Sir Bernard Jenkins, the Liaison Committee Chairman, had to spell things out for Johnson and warn him not to call a snap general election that would plunge the country into further turmoil.
In the end, we're all dispensable and the welfare of the British people and the security of the nation are essential, said Jenkin.
Johnson stated that he would consider resigning if he became an obstruction to protecting the country's vital interests, but he immediately insisted that he did not expect a vote earlier than 2024 when the next UK general election is due.
The odds of a government led by him surviving is getting dimmer with every passing hour as a result of the ever-increasing volume of dissent within his own party ranks.