Boris Johnson's loyal supporters are furious with him like never before, calling into question his ability to lead

• UK MPs are furious with Prime Minister Johnson after the worst few days of his premiership.
• His administration is being rocked by claims that it broke COVID rules to party during lockdown.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing unprecedented anger from his own Conservative MPs after perhaps the most disastrous week of his premiership.

Opposition parties have called on him to resign. And more importantly, according to MPs who talked to Insider, his own colleagues are hinting at mutiny only two years after he led his party to victory in the 2019 general election.

The anger was triggered by an unfolding scandal over senior figures in Johnson's government holding parties over the Christmas period in 2020, despite COVID-19 rules banning them.

After going unreported for almost a year, reports of a first party in Downing Street sparked a wave of fury, followed by more revelations that Conservative aides may have held as many as 7 parties over November and December 2020 in breach of the rules.

Johnson on Wednesday "apologized unreservedly" for comments made by Downing Street staff in a leaked video showed them joking about a Downing Street Christmas party, which the prime minister's spokesman had denied took place.

The scandal — especially potent for its suggestion of hypocrisy by the ruling class — has prompted a breakdown in Johnson's authority over his own party, including in figures who had previously been loyal.

One Conservative MP elected in 2015 told Insider that the party is becoming unruly. Insider granted the MP anonymity to frankly describe issues in his party.

The MP considers themselves loyal to Johnson, but says he can see the Prime Minister's authority waning.

"The biggest damage is internal — the party at moments like this gets less whippable," they said, referring to the process of party management known as whipping.

A clear sign of the trouble for Johnson came in parliament on Thursday, where Conservative MPs joined opposition parties in openly criticising Johnson.

One Conservative MP, Philip Hollobone, said during the debate that his constituents were "very angry indeed at reports of Christmas parties in Downing Street during what was a very large second wave of covid."

"The behavior was totally inappropriate and possibly criminal," he said.

Theresa Villiers, a former Cabinet minister, spoke of "real public anger" on the issue.

Johnson led to Conservatives to a large parliamentary majority in December 2019 with the promise to "get Brexit done," earning the gratitude of the 107 Conservative MPs elected for the first time.

But that credit is quickly running out, and many of the 2019 intake are among the angriest at Johnson's recent actions.

Johnson had already upset many of his own MPs by embroiling the party in a debacle over the Tory MP Owen Paterson, in which a botched attempt to spare him from punishment for corrupt lobbying backfired and ended in his resignation.

An MP from the 2019 intake, also given anonymity to discuss party issues, told Insider that they feel longer-serving MPs like Paterson were getting better treatment.

"It has a feel of officers versus infantry," the MP said.

Johnson announced new COVID-19 restrictions on Wednesday including instructions for the general public to work from home over Christmas.

Some MPs believe that those rules will be harder for the government to enforce against the backdrop of damaging news of government figures ignoring the rules themselves.

The MP elected in 2015 told Insider: "If you see people in the heart of government making the rules then flouting them, people will inevitably think 'Why should I bother?'"

The measures also pose a stern parliamentary test for Johnson, who plans to ask MPs to support the measures in a vote on Tuesday.

Dozens of Conservative MPs have already said they will rebel against the prime minister — and many see it as an opportunity to show the level of dissent on Conservative backbenches.

Conservative MP Mark Harper, who used to be Chief Whip — in charge of MP's discipline — under David Cameron, said on Tuesday: "The events of the past few weeks — from the Paterson case to the Christmas party video — have seriously damaged the credibility of those at the very top.

"Why should people listen to the prime minister's instructions to follow the rules when people inside Number 10 Downing Street don't do so?"