Senior Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood said Prime Minister Boris Johnson has lost his support and he will be submitting a letter of no confidence to the 1922 Committee.

Speaking on Sky News, the former minister and MP for Bournemouth East said: “This is just horrible for all MPs to continuously have to defend this to the British public.

“The Government’s acknowledged the need for fundamental change, culture, make-up, discipline, the tone of Number 10, but the strategy has been one, it seems, of survival, of rushed policy announcements like the Navy taking over the migrant Channel crossings.

“And attacking this week Keir Starmer with Jimmy Savile… I mean who advised the Prime Minister to say this? We’re better than this, we must seek to improve our standards and rise above where we are today.”

He added: “I don’t think the Prime Minister realises how worried colleagues are in every corner of the party, backbenchers and ministers alike, that this is all only going one way and will invariably slide towards a very ugly place.

“I believe it’s time for the Prime Minister to take a grip of this; he himself should call a vote of confidence rather than waiting for the inevitable 54 letters to be eventually submitted.

“It’s time to resolve this completely so the party can get back to governing, and, yes, I know the next question you will ask, I will be submitting my letter today to the 1922 Committee.”

Earlier, Northern Ireland Select Committee chairman and North Dorset Tory MP Simon Hoare also called for the Jimmy Savile remarks to be withdrawn.