Ministers were forced to deny Boris Johnson had lost his authority today after he suffered the worst rebellion of his premiership.
The prime minister suffered a hammer blow to his authority last night when Tory MPs ignored his personal plea to back Covid passports.
The 99-strong rebellion makes up nearly half of the Tory party’s backbenchers and include some who are openly questioning his future.
But transport secretary Grant Shapps this morning denied Johnson’s authority had been undermined by the revolt.
LBC’s Nick Ferrari told him the PM had “all of the clout of a football manager facing relegation”.
But Shapps hit back: “In terms of his authority, I saw prime minister on Sunday night asking the country to get the booster jab and yesterday walked past huge queues around the block of people responding to the prime minister’s plea.
“Having been the person to get this country first of all jabbed ahead of every other major economy and now booster jabbed ahead of every other country, comes down personally to the authority of the prime minister.”
The new restrictions require people to show proof of vaccination or a negative test at large indoor venues across England.
But the Tory rebellion came from all wings of the party, leaving the prime minister reliant on Labour’s support.
The rebels even included a new MP elected only a fortnight ago as well 17 who abstained including former prime minister Theresa May.