A state reception dinner for British right-wingers descended into a bust up between Boris Johnson and other senior Tories over the party's record in government.

In an astonishing turn of events, a witness described "real anger" as the meeting of minds led to a spat between Liz Truss, Mr Johnson and his former boss, broadcaster Andrew Neil.

The event, at the luxury Peninsula Hotel in London's Mayfair, was hosted by US broadcaster Newsmax and included guests of honour Marco Rubio and US treasury secretary Scott Bessent. Both are in the UK for Donald Trump's state visit.

Nigel Farage and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg were also there representing the right of British politics.

After canapes, Mr Farage and the US cabinet members left, before the rest of the guests, which also included Sir Sajid Javid and Mark Harper, were treated to dinner.

Mr Johnson then gave a speech defending his record on Brexit, and it was at this point a witness said "tensions were evident over the last government's record". Right-wing critics have rounded on Mr Johnson for overseeing mass migration into Britain as PM, with Reform UK dubbing it the "Boris-wave" of migration.

The witness told The Daily Telegraph tensions came to a head when former transport secretary Lord Harper raised the need for welfare reform and immigration control, before being rebuked by broadcaster Mr Neil about why the Tories had not done so in power.

The witness added: "At that point, Boris robustly defended his government's record. Boris argued that Brexit gives us powers to reduce immigration if we wish, and said he did reduce it. He also said we shouldn't bash the contribution migrants make to Britain.

"There was a robust exchange of views, and everyone defended themselves well, but real anger is obvious. The Reform attendees were of the view that this is why the Conservatives don't function well as a party any more."

Sir Jacob reportedly attempted to make peace between Tory critics supporting Reform and those defending the Conservatives' record, apparently believing the two parties should work together.

The row comes after a week in which Mr Farage welcomed a fresh handful of defectors to Reform UK, with high-profile former Tories Maria Caulfield and Danny Kruger joining the party.

Mr Kruger became the first sitting MP to defect to the party, while Ms Caulfield became the thirteenth former Tory MP to join Mr Farage's ranks.

As he left, Mr Kruger urged other Tory MPs to join him in Mr Farage's party, saying: "I would hope that colleagues who share my view about the crisis the country is in and the opportunity that Reform offers to save our country."

Ms Caulfield meanwhile told GB News: "If you are Conservative right-minded, then the future is Reform."

Boris Johnson in angry spat with Andrew Neil after broadcaster questioned Tory record