Tories give Warsi both barrels
By all accounts, last night's 1922 Committee meeting was a bruising experience for Baroness Warsi.
The Standard has been told that MP after MP lined up to attack her handling of MEP Roger Helmer's recent defection to Ukip - with one onlooker describing it as a "roasting".
The noble lady has never been popular among certain sections of the party, but this appeared to come from much wider than just the "usual suspects".
So savage was the mauling, and so badly-received was her response, that colleagues' mobile phones buzzed all night with reports from those present.
It sparked instant calls for her to be sacked as soon as possible and replaced with an MP - with Housing Minister Grant Shapps' name in the frame.
The Standard has been told among those who spoke out against Warsi's handling of the Helmer affair were Chris Heaton-Harris, Brian Binley, Sir Peter Tapsell, Nicky Morgan and Philip Hollobone.
Here's a flavour from some people inside the room.
One onlooker said: “She had a very very tough time. She got it with both barrels from MPs across the party.
“For the party chairman to get treated like that shows what people think of the party chairman.”
Another said: “She got a roasting, even from loyalists. I thought she was appalling. She has got no idea.
“I just thought she was out of her depth. I have never seen anything like it - other than the last time she was before the 1922. I genuinely think she is the worst chairman we have ever had."
And a third added: “It was from her perspective a car crash. There was a barrage of criticism.
“If had been an experienced Member of Parliament it would never have happened. This young lady thinks she knows everything and is the best thing to emerge in Parliament but she is not.”
To put it mildly: ouch.
Not everyone feels the same though. One MP said it did "nothing for morale" when colleagues attacked the party chairman, while a Conservative spokesman said Baroness Warsi had acted “entirely correctly and properly” over the Helmer situation.
They added: “The rules are perfectly clear. At the time Roger had not resigned, therefore there was no vacancy. Before there was a vacancy we could not select a candidate.”
Craig Woodhouse
Follow me on Twitter @craigawoodhouse