Boris Johnson won’t quit even if he is fined by the police for breaching lockdown rules by attending illicit Downing Street parties, reports suggest.
Allies of the prime minister told The Times that Johnson has told ministers that the government needs to stop talking about themselves, and start talking about voters’ priorities.
“The public really hate it when we talk about ourselves and stop talking about them,” he said.
And Johnson is reportedly planning to stay in office even if he is handed a fixed penalty notice by Scotland Yard, with sources close to the prime minister telling the newspaper that he has no intention of stepping down.
It comes after he mounted a “defensive” mini-reshuffle yesterday, in which arch-loyalists like Jacob Rees-Mogg were moved within cabinet to shore up support on the right of the Tory party.
Rees-Mogg was moved from the role of Commons leader to take responsibility for the government’s post-Brexit agenda, while Mark Spencer was moved from chief whip to succeed Rees-Mogg.
Chris Heaton-Harris, a Brexiteer, replaced Spencer – whose appointment Labour said was “inappropriate” as he is currently the subject for an Islamophobia investigation.
Spencer is facing claims by Nusrat Ghani, a former minister, that he told her she had been sacked because of her “Muslimness”.
Johnson is said to be planning a full reshuffle this summer in an attempt to stave off any attempt to remove him from office.
According to The Times, the prime minister wants to carry out a bigger shake-up of his top team as he prepares for a general election in 2023 or 2024. “It will be the team he wants for the run-in,” a government source said.
Along with the party claims, Johnson stoked fresh controversy last week by accusing Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer of failing to prosecute notorious paedophile Jimmy Savile while head of the Crown Prosecution Service.
Downing Street has made it clear that Johnson does not plan to apologise but he is likely to face renewed calls to do so when he fields questions from MPs on Wednesday.
Critics have said the jibe is completely unfounded and have blamed the remark for anti-Covid restriction demonstrators targeting Sir Keir on Monday outside Parliament, with a mob accusing him of being a “paedophile protector”.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid, speaking on a visit to east London on Tuesday, said the images of the opposition leader being bundled into a police car to be escorted away from protesters were “completely disgraceful”.
But the Cabinet minister, who has previously distanced himself from the PM’s Savile comments, said “the people that are to blame are the protesters themselves” rather than Johnson.
Related: Mark Spencer made Commons Leader despite Islamophobia allegations
