The 2019ers: Tory unease as some of party’s newest MPs turn on Boris Johnson

Members of old guard may refer to 2019 intake disparagingly, but they could hold PM's fate in their hands

They were once among Boris Johnson's most loyal defenders. Many of the army of more than 100 MPs who sat in Westminster for the first time in December 2019 felt they owed the prime minister their seat.

So they were initially on their best behaviour, keen in a much-expanded parliamentary party to stand out from their peers and secure early promotion to the lowest rungs of the ministerial ladder. And most still feel that way.