Tory chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin refuses spiralling calls to quit over the PM’s disastrous speech

TORY chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin last night refused spiralling calls to quit over the PM’s disastrous speech – and lashed out at bungling police and security officials.

The party chief refused to take responsibility for the security breach as Cabinet Ministers demanded his head – but Tory insiders said he could still go later in the year.

Instead the long-serving grandee turned his fire on the police for allowing the appalling security breach that saw prankster Simon Brodkin storm the stage to hand the PM a P45 form.

Last night the party began a full review into the police vetting process for a conference pass and security in the hall.

But Sir Patrick was left red-faced after it emerged he had heaped praise on private security guards and Manchester Police just minutes before the stage invasion.

He tweeted his thanks for all their  “hard work to keep us all safe” at the party gathering.

MPs will grill party chiefs on Monday evening about the massive security cock up, with the finger of blame pointing at the HQ boss.

But a source close to the party chairman said: “It’s not Patrick’s fault, why should he go? It’s the security arrangements that fell short”.

Instead they heaped blame on the PM’s bodyguards for the mess, saying: “you’ve got to ask how someone was able to stand there for so long next to the most powerful people in the country and no one did anything.”

But Sir Patrick’s government colleagues insist he must take the public blame, with one Cabinet Minister saying: “The pressure will be on the party chairman - conference was a shambles. He definitely has to go”.

And Business Secretary Greg Clark also failed to offer his full support to Mcloughlin when asked for it live on TV.

Instead he dubbed the security breach “serious”.

Asked if the Chairman was ultimately responsible for the mess, he would only say: “I don’t know what part of the weakness of the system it was but it clearly needs to be established”.

And another senior Minister also blamed Sir Patrick for CCHQ being under prepared to fight this summer’s snap election, claiming “he should have gone in June but was instead let to balls up conference.”

One furious backbencher also hit out: “Patrick is a Filofax chairman. We need a Facebook chairman.

“He should have resigned the day after the disastrous election night. He should now be sacked.

“Everyone likes Patrick but he has completely f***ed up. The word is that he tried to resign after the election but she got him to stay on.”

Tory MPs will hold a “post-mortem” at a meeting of the 1922 committee next Wednesday to discuss the security breach.

One Tory MP said: “This should not be about the Prime Minister, the security flaws are the most important.

"The PM could have had acid thrown at her, she could have been shot, someone could have toppled her."
Last night some bookmakers suspended betting on McLoughlin being the next Cabinet Minister to resign after a flurry of bets.

But pals said he would not be going anywhere - despite party insiders believing he could still step down by Christmas to make way for a younger face.