EU referendum: Pro-Brexit Tory MPs call on David Cameron to remain as PM regardless of result

Letter signed by Vote Leave figureheads Boris Johnson and Michael Gove says Mr Cameron has a ‘duty and a mandate’ to carry on in the job

David Cameron and his wife Samantha leave after voting in the EU Referendum at Central Methodist Hall, Wesminster (Getty)

More than 80 Eurosceptic Conservative MPs, including every Cabinet minister who backed Brexit have called on David Cameron to remain as Prime Minister regardless of the EU referendum result.

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A letter to addressed to Mr Cameron, which was signed by Vote Leave figureheads Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, said that the Prime Minister had a “duty and a mandate” to carry on in the job.

With the final polls suggesting a Remain lead, the letter will further calm nerves in Downing Street, after bruising campaign battles between senior Conservative figures on opposite sides of the EU debate left the party in its most divided state in recent memory.

However, many Tory MPs are reported to have refused to support the call for Mr Cameron to stay on.

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The letter, seen by the Daily Telegraph, states: “We who are supporters of Vote Leave and members of the Conservative Party thank you for giving the British people a choice of their destiny on 23 June.

“We believe that whatever the British people decide you have both a mandate and a duty to continue leading the nation implementing our 2015 manifesto.”

House of Commons leader Chris Grayling, former Defence Secretary Liam Fox, Culture Secretary John Whittingdale and employment minister Priti Patel have also signed the letter.

There had been speculation that Mr Cameron would face a vote of no confidence in the event of a vote to Leave, or even if Remain wins by a narrow margin, amid widespread discontent within the Conservative Party over the Government’s handling if the referendum campaign.