BORIS Johnson has broken his cover after narrowly surviving a confidence vote last night.
The PM was spotted leaving the back of No. 10 with his dog Dilyn this morning.
It came hours after two in five Conservatives voted to kick him out of office in a wounding confidence vote following Partygate.
His survival by the skin of his teeth left him just 32 votes from oblivion.
But Mr Johnson, supported by 211 MPs, vowed the country is ready to “move on” – and said described the result as a “decisive” victory.
And today, the PM’s allies were out in force to support, begging rebels to move on.
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Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said the vote was won “clearly”, and called on the party to “move forward”.
He told Sky News: “The Prime Minister won it with 59 per cent – that’s actually more than he got in terms of support when he was elected leader of the Conservative Party.
“We’ve had that vote now, it was the prerogative of those calling for it to have it.
“The Prime Minister won it clearly, he won it by 63 votes, and now the most important thing is to respect that vote and move forward.”
Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, announced the result last night and revealed that 211 MPs had stayed loyal.
But in a major blow to Mr Johnson’s premiership 148 voted to kick him out of No 10 — 41 per cent of MPs.
If 32 more Tory MPs had voted against him, the PM would have been forced to quit.
The figure of 148 represented a greater percentage than the 37 per cent that voted to kick out Theresa May in 2018 — and she was ousted six months later.
It also falls short of Margaret Thatcher and John Major’s numbers in the dying days of their governments.
But despite the rebels failing to deliver a knockout blow, the result will have weakened Mr Johnson’s grip on the party and the door is wide open for more months of Tory infighting.
Current party rules mean Mr Johnson is safe from a fresh challenge for another year, but there are already plots in Westminster to try to change those rules.
Last night, Mr Johnson’s supporters put on a brave face, saying the result put the leadership question to bed. One minister insisted: “No one can remember the score of a test match two years ago — or even two days ago — but you remember who won.”
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi risked ridicule by suggesting “the Prime Minster won handsomely” and claiming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be “punching the air at the result”.
And Cabinet Office Chief Nigel Adams yesterday insisted: “Tonight, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has won another clear mandate as leader of the Conservative Party.
BY THE SKIN OF HIS TEETH
“Now we can fully focus on delivering on the people’s priorities and put leadership speculation and distractions behind us for good.”
But privately Cabinet ministers admitted the result was “near worst-case scenario”. One senior Tory said: “That is a catastrophic result for Boris.”
Another added: “He must listen to the sheer scale of the rebellion and go now, for the sake of the country.”
Tory MP Julian Sturdy was the first out of the blocks calling for Mr Johnson to step down.
The York MP said there was “clear evidence that he no longer enjoys the full-hearted confidence of the parliamentary party and should consider his position”.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Conservative MPs have failed to “show some backbone”, choosing to ignore public sentiment.
He said the result means the Tory Party believes “breaking the law is no impediment to making the law” and that people have “no right to expect honest politicians”.
Allies of Mr Johnson have insisted he will carry on as PM even though significant numbers of Tory MPs refused to back him.
Jacob Rees-Mogg had claimed victory by even a single vote would have been enough for him to continue. Mr Johnson’s win came after he had spent the day pleading with his Tory MPs not to risk “utter disaster” under Labour by choosing to oust him.
But he risked putting off wavering MPs by suggesting he “would do it again” when asked about Partygate. However, aides insisted he meant thanking staff for their hard work during the pandemic.
