Boris Johnson will not quit after Partygate and vows to win the next election by levelling up Britain

DEFIANT Boris Johnson tells Sun readers today that he has no plans to quit as he launched an eight-year blueprint to fix Britain. The embattled PM rejected calls to resign and said he will seek re-election in 2023 as he strives to level up the country, adding: “I’ve got a lot more to do”. Asked […]

DEFIANT Boris Johnson tells Sun readers today that he has no plans to quit as he launched an eight-year blueprint to fix Britain.

The embattled PM rejected calls to resign and said he will seek re-election in 2023 as he strives to level up the country, adding: “I’ve got a lot more to do”.

Asked if he was done yet after weeks of scandal and an approval rating that has dropped through the floor, the PM insisted “certainly not.”

Hailing Brexit, Britain’s rapid unshackling from Covid regulations and his massive majority, the PM said: “I am getting on with the job and I will do so for as long as I have the privilege and honour to serve in this position.”

But at a loss to explain how he has gone from hero to zero in just a few months, the PM said: “I make no commentary but I am focussed on the next election.”

Batting away claims he is now too tainted by scandal to be a winner, he insisted. “We are focused on the job in hand remorselessly.”

But three Tory MPs yesterday went public with calls for the PM to quit.

Ex-Minister Tobias Elwood, Sir Gary Streeter, first elected in 1992, and newbie MP Anthony Mangnall both called for Conservatives to pick a new leader and PM.

Eleven Tory MPs have now publicly confirmed they have written letters demanding a vote of no confidence in the BoJo — still significantly short of the 54 required to spark the showdown with backbenchers.

But those calling for a challenge can remain anonymous meaning the actually figure could be much higher.

Mr Johnson is desperately trying to move on from the bombshell news last week that the police are now probing lockdown breaking parties in Downing Street — including in his own flat.

Today he will launch a massive push to help the cost of living and help on energy bills and a drive to make the internet safer for kids on Friday.

But the Partygate scandal continues to suck the energy out of Downing Street, with the PM mocked savagely by Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs.

The Labour boss said he would need better answers to a police interview than the ones he gave the Commons.

The PM is also facing a fresh onslaught from ousted No10 aide Dominic Cummings who has vowed on Tuesday night to use his blog to bring the PM down eventually — with attacks dubbed “Dom Bombs”.

Asked about the relentless criticism from his ex-right hand man, the powerful Downing Street aide he sacked, the PM said he was the boss — not Dom.

He blasted: “I am focussed not on my critics, I won’t accept criticism from the Labour party or anywhere else.

“My job is to get on with what the public elected ME to do, the best answer to any criticism is to deliver.

“This is the government that delivered Brexit; delivered an 80 seat majority; delivered the fastest booster rollout; and the fastest economic growth in the G7.”

Speaking to the Sun on the way back from a gruelling whistlestop trip to Ukraine between Cabinet on Tuesday and PMQs on Wednesday, the PM said: “We are focusing on the job in hand, day by day, there is literally a huge amount to do.

“We’ve got to make sure we tackle the cost of living, but we’ve got build on our strong jobs led, high wage high skill recovery.

“That’s what people want. The best way to tackle the cost of living is to have better paid jobs and much more of them.”

I am focussed not on my critics, I won’t accept criticism from the Labour party or anywhere else. My job is to get on with what the public elected ME to do, the best answer to any criticism is to deliver.

Boris Johnson

And hailing his plan to “level up Britain” published on Wednesday, he said: “We want to go much further — we want to have a pro-enterprise, better-regulated economy.

“The fundamental idea is that we need to get business, enterprise and the private sector to invest in places around the country that for too long people have though the only answer is state handouts.

“Instead it needs to be about opportunity, conservatism, people taking their lives into their own hands and making the most of their potential.

Setting out his vision for Britain in 2030, he announced 12 new ‘national missions’ — promises made to the British public and enshrined in law – which spell out how he will improve lives.

This includes a pledge to boost pay, jobs and productivity in every part of the UK, create London-style public transport systems elsewhere, and wipe out illiteracy and innumeracy among primary school leavers.

While he will also try to make Brits live longer and be happier with better health services.

Mr Johnson added: “If we were able to bring our cities, our major cities, our towns and our left behind coastal communities, to the same level as other such cities in Europe we would be the most prosperous country, the richest economy in Europe.”

He admitted: “The gap between the London and South East and the rest of the country is bigger than the economic gap in any other comparable country.

“We have a bigger productivity gap than any such country; but we can fix that.

“Do you seriously think that people in these areas are possessed of any less imagination, energy? Drive? Zap? Genius? Gumption? Flair? No, no, no. No they are not.

“They just haven’t been given the chances, and they haven’t been allowed to believe they can do things and we need to change that.”