Steve Brine has said it is "inevitable" that Boris Johnson will face a vote of no-confidence among Conservative MPs after it was confirmed the Prime Minister will be investigated over claims he misled Parliament about parties in Downing Street during lockdown.

The Tory MP for Winchester and Chandler's Ford backed Labour's motion on Thursday to refer Mr Johnson to the Privileges Committee which passed without a vote after receiving no objections, with No 10 opting against tabling its own delay amendment.

The decision means MPs on the committee will investigate whether Mr Johnson is in contempt of Parliament for misleading the Commons with his repeated denials of lockdown-busting parties in No 10.

Such an investigation will only begin after Scotland Yard has completed its own inquiry into alleged coronavirus law breaches at the heart of Government, which Mr Brine has previously labelled as "embarrassing".

Speaking after the decision, he said: “The motion to refer the Prime Minister to the Commons Privileges Committee seemed perfectly sensible to me and was worthy of my support.

“It's right the House takes a look at the issue and does so in a timely manner. It is, for me, inevitable the PM will now also face a confidence vote among Conservative MPs given, for so many reasons, this is not a sustainable situation."

Mr Johnson, who missed the motion debate and decision because he is on an official visit to India, has already been fined once by Metropolitan Police for attending his own birthday celebration in June 2020, with his officials braced for more fixed-penalty notices to land.

He is thought to have been at six of the 12 possible rule-breaking events being considered by Operation Hillman officers.

Conservative MPs used the afternoon debate on the PM’s truthfulness to express their disgruntlement at his handling of the allegations, with more coming forward with calls for him to resign.

The motion laid before MPs said that Mr Johnson’s comments “including but not limited to” four separate remarks in the Commons “appear to amount to misleading the House”.

The Prime Minister had, speaking from the despatch box, previously said that all Covid rules were followed in Downing Street.

Tory MPs had initially been ordered to back a Government amendment which would defer any decision on referring the matter to the committee until after the conclusion of the Met Police inquiry.

But in a late U-turn shortly before the debate began, Tory MPs were given a free vote.

The move appeared to confirm speculation at Westminster that a significant number of Tories were not prepared to back the Government’s attempt to kick the issue into the long grass.

Speaking in the Commons, leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey, referenced comments made by parliamentary candidate for Winchester and Chandler's Ford, Danny Chambers, in what was an impassioned speech. 

Mr Chambers said: "MPs did the right thing by standing up to Boris Johnson in Parliament. He will now be investigated into whether he deliberately misled parliament about his attendance at rule breaking parties. 

"If I lied and broke the rules in my job as a vet, I would get struck off. Yet for some reason, the Prime Minister thinks he can just break the law, lie about it, and carry on as nothing happened. 

"People in Hampshire are angry. Every day I hear stories from people here who made heartbreaking sacrifices during lockdowns, from missing funerals of their loved ones, to not visiting lonely relatives for months on end.   

"The country cannot afford a Prime Minister who is spending all his time and energy trying to save his own career instead of dealing with the cost-of-living crisis that will affect so many families.  

"Johnson has taken the British people for fools for far too long, and it’s time for our Conservative MPs to show that they are willing to stand up for honesty and integrity in public life. They need to force him out. Boris Johnson needs to go."