POOLE MP Sir Robert Syms said Boris Johnson had become a “liability with voters rather than a plus”.

The Tory backbencher confirmed that he voted no to the question of if he had confidence in Mr Johnson during tonight’s secret ballot in Westminster.

Sir Robert told the Daily Echo Mr Johnson would probably win the vote but if “significantly more than 100” MPs vote against the Prime Minister, the Conservative leader had a “problem”.

He said: “I had made up my mind and I told my association that if there was a vote of no confidence I would vote no.

“I have been straightforward about that. I have not kept anything secret. It will upset a few supporters but on the whole many people in Poole think it is the right thing to do because they think that change is necessary.

“What we really need is a Conservative vision – where the country is going in two years, five years, seven years and so far we don’t seem to have had that from the Prime Minister.

“The best defence for the Conservative Party is to have policies that relate to people. What are we going to do for 20-year-olds and 25-year-olds who want to by homes, etc?

“At the moment we seem to have mush rather than decent policies, so I think a new leader with a fresh start in terms of policies would be the best solution.

“I don’t think it is necessarily all over for Boris. I think he is probably going to win but the reality is that I think he has now made himself a liability in terms of voters rather than a plus and that is why I think you will find quite a lot of colleagues voting against him tonight.”

Dorset MPs have been split on the issue with Conor Burns (Bournemouth West) and Sir Christopher Chope (Christchurch) telling the Daily Echo they backed the Prime Minister, while Tobias Ellwood (Bournemouth East) submitted a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson several months ago.

Asked about how damaging the scale of opposition could be, Sir Robert said: “Bearing in mind the majority of Tory MPs are either ministers, private parliamentary secretaries (PPS), trade envoys or have some sort of role, it is difficult for the Prime Minister to lose because there are a lot of people who are if you like on the payroll.

“I think anything significantly more than 100 will create a difficult scenario because that would show a large proportion of the party would have concerns about the direction the party and the country is going.

“If it is less than 100, I think he will be happy. If it is more than I think they will be unhappy. If it is significantly more than 100, I think he has got problems.”

Sir Robert also voted against Mr Johnson’s predecessor when Theresa May, when she survived a ballot of her Tory peers in 2019.

The experienced politician said he was “perfectly comfortable” with how he voted tonight.

He said significant numbers of Poole Conservative Association who wanted to stand for election for BCP Council next year felt things were not going as they thought they would under Mr Johnson’s leadership.

Sir Robert said: “I think the Prime Minister is in a difficult position which he has put himself in because he has got himself into trouble and he hasn’t got himself out of trouble.

“I think if he leads us into the next general election we might win but I think the head winds with a Boris Johnson leadership are going to be rather more than if we had a fresh change.

“We are two years from a general election, there are a lot of good people in the Conservative Party and therefore there is an option of electing somebody new to take on the task of government.

“Many things are going well but the real problem is Boris is stuck in this situation where everybody thinks he broke the rules and it is very difficult when you get into an issue of trust to change things.

“You can change a policy but you can’t change an issue of trust.

“The neatest solution in my humble opinion is we have a change and if Boris stays I don’t think it is necessarily doom and gloom and disaster.

"I think the other side we can beat but I just think it will be more difficult and we are going to probably still limp on for some while with various revelations coming out, which I don’t think is very good.

“There are big issues the government need to deal with, and I think the problems of the Prime Minister are becoming a big distraction.”