MPs will stage a vote of confidence in the UK government on Monday amid renewed opposition calls for Boris Johnson to step down immediately and hand over to a caretaker prime minister, PA News Agency.

If the government is defeated, it would almost certainly trigger a general election, although that would require a significant number of Tory MPs to vote against it, or at least abstain.

That, however, would appear unlikely given the party is leaderless and in no fit state to fight an election, while the initial wave of anger at Johnson has largely subsided.

It may offer the Prime Minister a final chance to defend his record before MPs after the tumultuous events which led to his downfall, amid accusations of lying and rule-breaking.

Unusually, the vote will take place on a government motion.

The Labour Party had originally said it would seek to hold a confidence vote after Johnson announced he was staying on as Prime Minister until the autumn and a new Conservative Party leader was in place.

However, the government refused to accept the wording of the Labour motion, which expressed no confidence in the government and the Prime Minister, effectively forcing Tory MPs to go on record saying they still had confidence in Johnson if they wanted to avoid an election.