Mr Tugendhat is regarded as one of the leading lights of the so-called “moderate” and One Nation wing of the party. He holds the Foreign Office to account as chairman of the cross-party House of Commons foreign affairs committee.
He has been strongly critical of Mr Johnson throughout his premiership. In an email to constituents on May 30, he accused him of “a lack of respect it showed for the British people or the Queen”.
Mr Tugendhat did not explicitly say whether or not he had sent a letter of no confidence to Sir Graham Brady, instead writing: “I have made my position clear to those who need to hear it.”