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Croydon MP Philp in stunned silence as government collapses

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Political editor WALTER CRONXITE on the deeply divided Conservative Party – in Croydon

Missing in action: Croydon South MP and Johnson fan-boy Chris Philp has not tweeted since July 1

There has been what can only be assumed to be stunned silence overnight from Croydon’s sole Conservative MP, Chris Philp, as all around him other ministers in the sordid and law-breaking government of Boris Johnson have been resigning.

But one of Philp’s sometime colleagues, ex-MP Gavin Barwell, has been busy sharing his opinions, saying that “there is zero chance” of the Conservative Party uniting behind Johnson.

Philp has spent the past couple of years as a paid apologist for Prime Minister Blo-Jo, but following the shock resignations yesterday evening, first of health minister Sajid Javid, and then, minutes later, of Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Member for Croydon South has been remarkably quiet.

Resigned: Rishi Sunak’s move could remove Johnson as Prime Minister

There has not even been a cut-and-paste re-tweet of anything that junior minister Philp’s boss at the Culture ministry, Nadine Dorries, has said in support of Johnson.

The Tuesday night resignations came less than 48 hours after Lord Rothermere pulled the rug out from under the lying, philandering and law-breaking Prime Minister, as the newspaper he owns, the Daily Mail, finally turned on Johnson.

Today, its columnist Stephen Glover wrote, “Six weeks ago, I wrote, ‘Boris’s idiocies over Partygate symbolise a wider unsuitability for office that can never be corrected’. That – plus his lack of a coherent political plan – remains my view.”

This morning, as Johnson tried to shore up his crumbling government with a mini-reshuffle, Downing Street was hit by further resignations. Philp, though, remained schtum and in his job. At least 10 other government aides had in the meantime quit, many citing [checks notes] the Prime Minister’s lies and the matter of principle.

One of this morning’s Exiteers, education minister Will Quince, said he had “no choice” but to resign after he appeared on television to defend Johnson using Downing Street briefings over parliamentary sex pest, Chris Pincher, “which have now been found to be inaccurate”.

Laura Trott, a parliamentary aide in the transport department, also resigned, as well as Alex Chalk, the solicitor general, late on Thursday night.

This morning, the website of The Grauniad noted, “Johnson is due to give evidence to the Commons liaison committee this afternoon at 3pm. Most of the MPs on the committee are very critical of him, and perhaps he is wondering if he can give it a miss, arguing that he needs to focus on the reshuffle instead?”

Last month, Philp was eviscerated live on national television, when he encountered union leader Mick Lynch on Newsnight and was described as a “liar” at least 16 times. His political career may never recover.

Today, Green campaigner Peter Underwood called on his Croydon neighbours to withdraw their support for Johnson’s human shield Philp by never voting for him again.

At last: how the former Tory MP for Croydon Central reacted to last night’s breaking news about a broken government

“I know that my MP has no morals or principles, so it doesn’t surprise me that he hasn’t resigned from whatever government job he is failing to do at the moment,” Underwood tweeted.

“I just hope my neighbours in Croydon South have the morals and principles never to vote for him again.”

“Lord” Barwell, until 2017 the MP for Croydon Central, has long displayed his animous towards his former pal, Johnson. The ill-feeling stems from Barwell’s time as chief of staff at No10 when Theresa May was Prime Minister, while Johnson continued to rock the badly holed Brexit boat.

Barwell’s first reaction on seeing Sunak’s resignation last night was to tweet the hashtag #AtLast.

Over the course of the evening and this morning, Barwell has elaborated slightly.

“This is the consequence of lying to your own ministers about what you knew,” Barwell wrote in reaction to Quince’s resignation this morning.

Perhaps unintentionally, Barwell provided a view on Philp’s continuing inaction. “The good ones don’t like being made to look like fools – and Will Quince was one of the good ones.”

Last night, Barwell noted that more than half of those who voted Tory in 2019 – delivering Johnson his parliamentary majority – now want the Prime Minister to resign. “This is significant,” he wrote.

And he also tweeted, “There is zero chance of the party uniting behind Johnson. We have almost certainly reached the point where a majority of Conservative MPs – and more importantly voters – have lost confidence. The sooner his remaining supporters realise this the better.”

And in another tweet, Barwell wrote, “If the Prime Minister does manage to survive – and right now that feels very unlikely – what was already a pretty weak government will have lost some of its best members.”

Chris Philp, at the time of writing, remains the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Tech and the Digital Economy in Boris Johnson’s Conservative government.

Read more: MP Philp: ‘Brown-nosing is first, second and third nature’
Read more: ‘A pattern of unacceptable behaviour, spread over months’
Read more: ‘The Prime Minister admits he lied’ says Tory Lord Barwell
Read more: Boo-ris Johnson: Barwell predicts end for PM could be close
Read more: Croydon South’s Tory MP called a ‘liar’ 16 times on national TV

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