Boris Johnson has survived a vote of no confidence following a day of political drama at Westminster.

Tory MPs voted in a secret ballot by  211 to 148 in favour of keeping Johnson as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister needed 180 votes to survive the vote.

MPs voted at Westminster over two hours between 6pm and 8pm before the votes were counted.

In the hours leading to the vote a growing number of MPs revealed they were voting against the Prime Minister.

The party rules mean he can’t face another no confidence vote for another year, but the rules could be changed.

However the high number of MPs who voted against him means he is weakened and could come under pressure to step down.

A majority of the six Scottish Tory MPs said they voted against, with only Alister Jack the Scottish Secretary publicly declaring he voted in favour of Boris Johnson.

Scottish Conservative leader, Douglas Ross, changed his position again and said he would be voting to remove Boris Johnson.

Having previously sent a letter of no confidence, he later withdrew it, stating the country needed leadership during the cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine.

Ross, said: “Having listened closely to people in Moray who re-elected me to represent them, and from many people across Scotland, now that this confidence vote is upon us, I cannot in good faith support Boris Johnson.”

Scottish MP, John Lamont, resigned his junior government role as an aide to Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss to vote against Johnson.

He said: “We need a new leader and a new style of government” and said many of his constituents found Boris Johnson’s behaviour as “sickening.”

Government ministers gave their support to Boris Johnson throughout the day.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, Brexit minister, Work and Pensions Secretary, Theresa Coffey, former leadership contender and housing minister, Michael Gove, Policing Minister, Kit Malthouse, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries and Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab publicly backed Johnson.

Earlier the Prime Minister had set out his case to convince the MPs to back him despite growing anger at the lockdown breaches and being issued with a fine for attending a party at Downing Street when the rest of the country was under restrictions.

The Tory backbench MPs had waited until after the Queens Platinum Jubilee celebrations before reaching the threshold of 54 letters of no confidence required to trigger a vote.

It is understood many had post dated their letters to allow the 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady to announce the vote early on Monday morning.

Johnson had a meeting with backbench MPs just hours before the vote and wrote a letter to them all, urging them to back his leadership.

He pleaded with Tory MPs to back his continued leadership rather than indulge in "pointless" internal warfare.

He reminded the MPs "under my leadership" the party had won its biggest electoral victory in 40 years.

And he warned that Tory splits risked the "utter disaster" of Sir Keir Starmer's Labour entering Downing Street, propped up by the SNP.

Johnson told them the vote is an opportunity to "draw a line" under the issue.

The Prime Minister was informed early on Sunday afternoon that he would face the vote after more than 15% of the party's MPs - 54 parliamentarians - had submitted formal letters, emails or messages saying they had lost confidence in him.

In 2018 Theresa May survived a vote of no confidence with 200 to 117,  63%, more than Boris Johnson received.

Six months later however she resigned when she couldn’t get a Brexit deal through Parliament.