Suffolk Conservative MP renews call for Boris Johnson to go as Prime Minister

Suffolk MP Peter Aldous has joined the growing number of Conservative MPs calling on Boris Johnson to quit as Parliament votes to start a third inquiry in the prime minister's handling of the partygate affair.

Mr Aldous told ITV News Anglia that it "would be best for the country" if there were a change in leader.

Mr Aldous was elected in 2010 as the Conservative MP for the Waveney area of Suffolk which covers the Lowestoft area and is the country's most easterly constituency.

Speaking to ITV Anglia's Political Correspondent Emma Hutchinson on the Anglia Late Edition programme, he said: "It's an awful situation that we're in.

"It is quite possible I'm wrong but it is my view and sense that it would be best for the country, and indeed the Conservative Party, if there was a change in leader."

Mr Aldous submitted a letter to the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee in early February calling for a vote of no confidence in Mr Johnson and said he had not withdrawn that letter.

He said the prime minister was"a person of a lot of skills, a lot of attributes" but added: "These issues are going to keep rumbling, keep bouncing back and that is what is happening."

MPs agreed the Privileges Committee should investigate whether Boris Johnson misled Parliament with his repeated denials about Downing Street parties during the coronavirus lockdown.

There was no need for the Commons to hold a vote on whether to launch an investigation as the motion went through without opposition.

It was a damaging debate for Mr Johnson with several Tory MPs using their time in the Commons to call on the prime minister to resign.