Source says about 10 of those sacked still planned to stand again for the party

Senior Conservatives who had the whip withdrawn after voting against the government on Tuesday are expected to seek legal advice so they can stand again as Conservative MPs, amid rising Tory disquiet that saw Boris Johnson challenged at the 1922 Committee.

Concerned MPs wrote to Johnson after he spoke at a fractious meeting of Tory backbenchers, asking him to restore the whip to the MPs, who include former cabinet ministers Philip Hammond and David Gauke as well as Tory veterans such as Ken Clarke.

Although some of the 21 rebels who were sacked from the party have said they plan to leave parliament at the next election, a source close to the rebel group said that around 10 still planned to stand and a number had already been readopted by their local associations.

Who are the Tory rebel MPs? Read more

Those who still wish to stand have been offered legal advice about challenging the decision barring them from standing as Tory MPs, though it is understood that they have also been advised a previous high court decision could make it a difficult fight.

Hammond, the former chancellor, has already threatened potential legal action having been re-adopted by his association and Rory Stewart, the former international development secretary and leadership candidate, said he was also among those who still hoped to stand again for election in his constituency of Penrith.

Asked if he would consider a legal challenge, Stewart said: “I would consider doing the most straightforward thing of all, which is asking my constituents to support me, which they always have in the past. And I think other colleagues will do the same.”

Earlier, in a show of defiance, the now-independent MPs gathered in the top corner of the House of Commons chamber during prime minister’s questions, but remained on the Conservative benches. Ken Clarke, who had the whip removed after 49 years, remained in his seat next to the former prime minister Theresa May.

“They are Conservatives, no one can tell me Ken Clarke is not a Conservative,” one Tory MP said. “Most of us believe the same as them – that we want to leave the EU with a deal. This has been a total nightmare and many of us are just really upset. The usual suspects will be unfriendly and many of us do disagree with what they did but there is no unfriendliness.”

A number of the rebels said Nicholas Soames, the veteran Conservative MP and grandson of Winston Churchill, had said many more MPs would not be able to stand for the party if it stood on a manifesto backing no deal.

He said he had received more than 500 emails from people thanking him for the rebellion. “In a debate in the House in 1938, Chamberlain accused my grandfather of undermining his negotiations with the Germans,” he told the Guardian’s Today in Focus.

“I think history will prove my grandpapa to be right under the circumstances. And I think I will prove to be right.”

Play Video 2:16 Sir Nicholas Soames delivers emotional speech after Tory whip withdrawn – video

The rebel group were asked late on Tuesday night if they would remove themselves from the MPs’ WhatsApp group although Soames said the group was “peopled by lunatics, largely” and that “anyone with any sense has got off it for the sake of their mental health”.

Soames said he still hoped colleagues who wanted to continue would be allowed eventually to stand again for the party. “I hope what they will do is grow up and these people will be on the naughty step now but then allowed to stand,” he said.

“I mean, the idea that Richard Benyon would not any longer be the member for Newbury is enough to make me want to leave the Tory party altogether, voluntarily.”

Soames said both the chief whip, Mark Spencer, and Johnson’s adviser, Dominic Cummings, had been courteous when they met but that he had been particularly irked by the attitude of Jacob Rees-Mogg in the Commons’ chamber.

“Jacob Rees-Mogg’s performance last night, his rudeness and casualness to colleagues, shows he just doesn’t understand the way it works,” he said. “It was a student union speech on steroids, it was awful. It was revolting, it was just bloody bad behaviour, you wouldn’t see Andrea Leadsom lying about.”

Guto Bebb, the former defence minister who also lost the whip on Tuesday night, also cited Rees-Mogg as a catalyst for some colleagues’ decisions.

“There were at least four individuals who were still doubtful who changed their position to being supportive and voting with us on the back of Jacob’s performance,” he said. “He was deemed to be arrogant, out of touch and I think the way in which he treated some of the interventions was a red rag to bull in many cases.”

Play Video 0:31 Caroline Lucas slams Jacob Rees-Mogg's body language during debate – video

The veteran Conservative MP Roger Gale blamed the strategy pursued by Johnson on Cummings, saying it was “in danger of tearing the party apart” and said the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservatives may have to act.

“I think to have an unelected, foul-mouth oaf at the heart of Downing Street is dangerous and acceptable,” he told ITV news. “The time has come for Mr Johnson to get a handle on this and have Mr Cummings frogmarched out of Downing Street, because if he doesn’t the damage is going to continue.

“The manner in which, I know because I have had from the horse’s mouth, some of my colleagues who went to discuss courteously with Mr Johnson their situation yesterday were treated by Mr Cummings was quite appalling. That has to stop. If it doesn’t then maybe the 1922 Committee can do something about it but we cannot go on like this.”