The pandemic has seen a wave of confusing terms introduced to everyday life and now we are left with yet another conundrum: the 'pork pie plot'.

The 'pork pie plot' or 'pork pie putsch' is the code name used for several MPs' campaign to bring down Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

It comes after reports in the Daily Telegraph suggested the 54 letters which would launch a no confidence vote in Boris Johnson could be received on Wednesday.

But what is the 'pork pie plot' or 'pork pie putsch' and what does the term 'putsch' mean?

‘Pork Pie Plot’ or 'Pork Pie Putsch'

The 'pork pie plot' or 'pork pie putsch' - putsch meaning "a violent attempt to overthrow a government" or "coup", according to the Oxford Dictionary - was created by a group of Conservative MPs.

MPs from the former so-called Red Wall were said to have met on Tuesday to discuss Boris Johnson’s future in a gathering nicknamed the 'pork pie plot' or the 'pork pie putsch'.

One told The Daily Telegraph that 15% of letters needed to trigger a no confidence vote could be reached on Wednesday.

Mr Johnson, who reportedly met with potential rebels in his Commons office, has apologised multiple times in a major broadcast interview for “misjudgments that were made”.

But, following a string of allegations - including two gatherings at No 10 on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral, the Prime Minister has failed to convince some MPs to wait for Sue Gray's report. 

Boris Johnson has continued to defend his actions, describing how he thought a “bring your own booze” party held in the No 10 garden on May 20, 2020, was a work event.

Mr Johnson claims he had not been warned about it in advance, despite claims from former chief aide Dominic Cummings on Monday. Mr Cummings said he would “swear under oath” Mr Johnson was told about the bash.

Asked if he had lied to Parliament over the parties as he visited a north London hospital, the PM told broadcasters: “No. I want to begin by repeating my apologies to everybody for the misjudgments that I’ve made, that we may have made in No 10 and beyond, whether in Downing Street or throughout the pandemic.

“Nobody told me that what we were doing was against the rules, that the event in question was something that… was not a work event, and as I said in the House of Commons when I went out into that garden I thought that I was attending a work event.”

Mr Johnson said he “can’t imagine why on Earth it would have gone ahead, or why it would’ve been allowed to go ahead” if he had been told it was anything but a “work event”.

“I do humbly apologise to people for misjudgments that were made but that is the very, very best of my recollection about this event,” he said.

Mr Johnson confirmed he had given evidence to an inquiry being carried out into Whitehall parties during lockdown restrictions by senior official Sue Gray.