Boris Johnson has performed his victory lap to adoring MP fans as he addressed a packed meeting tonight of the Tories' 1922 Committee.
MPs banged desks and cheered in the Commons' historic Committee Room 14 as the next Prime Minister arrived to address them for the first time.
Leaving the meeting, the Prime Minister-in-waiting told the Mirror he was “impatient” to start work.
But it was all too much for veteran Tory MP Keith Simpson - who left the meeting saying “the circus has come to town”.
Mr Simpson rebelled for the first time in his career last week to stop Mr Johnson proroguing Parliament to force through a No Deal Brexit .
He accused Mr Johnson of “throwing policies into a shopping trolley” and of executing a “handbrake turn” on the High Speed 2 rail line.
And he said MPs wanting jobs were sitting in “the Kirk” of Committee Room 14 like “ambitious little s***s".
The exchange gave a tiny glimpse of the furious battle to come in the Tory party over Brexit.
On the whole the meeting was attended by Mr Johnson's fans and acolytes - with new Chief Whip Mark Spencer sitting by his side.
But he faces trouble ahead as Cabinet ministers Philip Hammond, David Gauke and Rory Stewart resign to fight No Deal Brexit from the back benches.
Boris Johnson emerged from his triumphant first meeting with Tory MPs – and gave an impromptu press conference on a parliamentary staircase.
The Prime Minister-in-waiting declared he was “impatient” to start work, as he strode out of Parliament's Committee Room 14 and headed for his official car.
Pursued by journalists, he said: “We have got to deliver Brexit, unite the country, defeat Jeremy Corbyn .”
Asked if Tories were happy, he said: “I think so.”
And asked what reaction he received from MPs, he told the Mirror: “I think our party seems in very good heart.”
The last few hours since his victory was announced had been “busy”, he said.
As he bowled out with aides and a bodyguard, he added: “See you later, folks.”
Mr Johnson strode down the Committee Room corridor accompanied by bodyguards
and Tory MPs Sajid Jarvis, Victoria Atkins, his Chief Whip Mark Spencer and 1922 Committee official Nigel Evans.
One Brexiteer Johnson fan emerged from the meeting saying it was “really good, some positive energy”.
They added: “Its good seeing people smile again. I think the clouds have been lifted."
