Boris Johnson faces growing anger over Dominic Cummings row with more than 40 Tory MPs calling for him to go

Boris Johnson is facing growing anger from Tory MPs over the Dominic Cummings saga with more than 40 now calling for the senior adviser to go.

The revolt against Mr Cummings has swelled to at least 44 Conservative MPs calling for him to resign or be sacked, and a further 17 who are critical of him.

Mr Johnson faced a grilling over his most senior adviser during the Liaison Committee on Wednesday and at least one Tory MP was on the airwaves again this morning expressing the anger of his constituents.

It comes as the Government launches its NHS Test and Trace service which is being rolled out across England today.

Tory MP Simon Hoare, chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme today that "hundreds" of people are "annoyed" by Mr Cummings' actions.

Mr Hoare told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "They are annoyed, they feel played if they weren't aware that there was the opportunity for self interpretation of the rules and they see nothing exceptional in the circumstances that Mr Cummings set out before us in the rose garden."​

Yesterday he asked Mr Johnson what he should tell constituents who ask “if other people don’t abide by [lockdown] why on earth should we?”

His comments were put to Health Secretary Matt Hancock this morning who said: “Because it is in everybody’s interests, it’s in that individuals interests, it’s in the whole community’s interests that people follow the instructions from the NHS.”

Asked if Mr Cummings did the “right thing” Mr Hancock replied: “As I’ve said before, I’ve answered that question.”

He was repeatedly pressed if Mr Cummings had done the right thing, before saying: “I think that he was acting within the guidelines. I also understand why reasonable people might disagree with that.”

Among the prominent figures who have criticised Mr Cummings is former Chancellor Sajid Javid, who said he did not believe Mr Cummings' trip to Durham was “necessary or justified” and said he should apologise although stopped short of calling for him to resign.

Mr Javid left his post as Chancellor in February amidst rumours of tensions between him and Mr Cummings and after the adviser allegedly fired one of his aides without telling him.

Former Cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt said there were “inconsistencies” in Mr Cummings account while Government whip Mike Freer who said he “certainly” would not have acted like the No10 aide.

It comes after Douglas Ross, a minister in the Scotland Office, resigned on Tuesday over Mr Cummings’ trip to Durham during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Tories calling for him to go range from Brexiteer MPs to those who voted remain and include former Chief Whip Mark Harper, ex-Culture Secretary and Attorney General Jeremy Wright, women and equalities committee chair Caroline Nokes, veteran MP Sir Roger Gale and George Freeman who was a former Downing Street policy chief for Theresa May.

Former Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who stood down at the December election, said Mr Cummings should quit because “he’s making things worse”.

She told Robert Peston on ITV: “My problem at the moment is that Dominic is being negative for good government. He's a public servant, it should be about service, and at the moment he is not helping this country."

Mr Cummings, the mastermind of the 2016 Vote Leave campaign, has been mired in controversy since it was revealed at the weekend he had made a 260-mile trip to Durham during lockdown.

The adviser failed to quash public and political anger despite holding an extraordinary press conference at Downing Street on Monday.

Much of the fury is centred on his trip to beauty spot Barnard Castle some 25 miles from where he was isolating.

Mr Cummings has insisted he acted reasonably and legally when he travelled to Durham and explained the trip to Barnard Castle was to test his eyesight before he made the long journey back to London.

Under intense questioning from Labour MPs Meg Hillier and Yvette Cooper at yesterday’s committee, Boris Johnson continued to stand by his aide and insisted it was time to "move on".

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Cummings "broke the rules" and claimed the Prime Minister's "unwillingness or inability to do the right thing has left the Government looking untrustworthy, unprincipled".

Writing in the Daily Mirror, he said the Government had "undermined the very public health advice that is necessary to keep us all safe, just to keep one powerful aide in his job".