A YORK Tory MP has called tonight for Boris Johnson to consider his position, after the Prime Minister won the backing of a majority of Tory MPs in a confidence vote but saw 148 vote against him.

York Outer MP Julian Sturdy said:"The scale of the vote against the Prime Minister this evening is clear evidence that he no longer enjoys the full-hearted confidence of the parliamentary party and should consider his position.

"As someone who supported Boris Johnson in the 2019 leadership election and wants to deliver the manifesto promises made at the last general election, it is regrettable that I had to vote against the Prime Minister but, as I have made clear in previous statements, I no longer have confidence in his ability to lead us through the challenges we face as a nation.

"With a global cost of living crisis impacting family budgets and war returning to Europe, the public should not have to doubt the honesty or integrity of our Prime Minister and our Government's focus should not be questioned.

"I remain focused on delivering for my York constituents, but feel it is important to be honest about my considered view that the interests of our city and country are best served by a new Prime Minister."

However, Thirsk & Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake tweeted that he voted with the Prime Minister this evening,adding: "I don’t feel that his breaches of the rules are sufficiently serious to warrant the resignation of the leader of this nation, not least one who led us to decisive victories for the leadership, in the general election."

The PM won 59 per cent of the vote, meaning he is now immune from a Conservative leadership challenge for a year.

In all, 211 Tory MPs voted they had confidence in the PM's leadership while 148 voted against him.

The result sees the PM remain in office, but with weakened authority.

The vote share in support of Mr Johnson was lower than the 63 per cent received by former Prime Minister Theresa May when she won a party confidence vote in 2018.

This evening’s vote does not draw a line under the Partygate scandal as the House of Commons Privileges Committee is still conducting an investigation into whether Mr Johnson knowingly misled Parliament when he said there had been no parties in Downing Street.

If the committee finds that he did mislead the House, there will be renewed calls for the Prime Minister’s resignation and it is possible the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers could change its rules to allow another confidence vote within a year of Monday’s ballot.