Stay or go? Shropshire MPs give their reaction to PM's 'Partygate' apology

The Prime Minister apologised in the Commons after he was fined for breaching lockdown restrictions when attending a Downing Street gathering to celebrate his birthday in June 2020.

He now faces a vote over whether he should be investigated for misleading parliament after initially claiming that no rules were broken in Number 10.

Addressing MPs for the first time since the Easter recess, Mr Johnson appeared to double down on his ignorance of his own Covid rules. After apologising with “full humility”, he said: “It did not occur to me then or subsequently that a gathering in the Cabinet Room just before a vital meeting on Covid strategy could amount to a breach of the rules.”

Labour and the Lib Dems have called for Mr Johnson to stand down, but Tory MPs have reiterated their backing for the PM.

In Shropshire the Prime Minister's apology met with a mixed response, divided along party lines.

Helen Morgan, Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire, said the Prime Minister's apology was "too little, too late", but Mark Pritchard, Conservative MP for The Wrekin, said Mr Johnson had shown contrition and done the right thing by apologising for his mistake.

Mrs Morgan urged Shropshire's Conservative MPs to join her in voting for an investigation into the Prime Minister's conduct on Thursday.

She said: "He has lied to Parliament, and he has lied to the country. We all made a collective sacrifice; we all have a story about a time we didn’t visit a loved one in order to protect the NHS.

"At a time when so many people across Shropshire and the rest of the country are facing a cost-of-living crisis we cannot afford to have a prime minister who breaks the law."

Mrs Morgan said the PM should not use the ongoing war in Ukraine as an excuse to let his behaviour off the hook.

"I will be voting to ensure Boris is investigated for lying to Parliament over attending lockdown parties," she said.

"Conservative MPs in Shropshire must do the right thing, they cannot stand behind a liar and a law-breaker, they must join me and vote for an investigation.”

Mr Pritchard welcomed the Prime Minister's apology.

"The PM has rightly apologised for the rules that were broken in Downing Street," he said.

"He was contrite and humble in his admission. This is welcome. But with the war in Ukraine and with cost-of-living challenges for so many, this is not the time for an early general election."

Chairman of Wrekin Labour Party, former MP Peter Bradley, said the Prime Minister's speech was of little consequence.

"What matters is what Tory MPs say," he said. "Most of them know lying and lawbreaking when they see them. If they're not prepared to hold the liars and the lawbreakers to account, what's the point of them?"