Boris Johnson accidentally launches leadership campaign

Boris Johnson accidentally launches his leadership campaign in an announcement that caught his aides off guard.

Boris Johnson has accidentally launched his leadership campaign. Picture; AFP.

Boris Johnson accidentally launched his leadership campaign yesterday in an announcement at a private event that caught his aides off guard.

Asked at the British Insurance Brokers’ Association conference in Manchester whether he would be running for the leadership, he replied that “of course” he was “going for it”.

He added: “There’s no vacancy. On the other hand, what I will say is that there has been a real lack of grip and dynamism in the way we’ve approached these talks. We’ve failed over the past three years to put forward a convincing narrative about how we exploit the opportunities of Brexit. All I can say, as tactfully and usefully as I can, is that I have a boundless appetite to try to get it right, and to help the country to get on the right path.”

Mr Johnson said that he had predicted the rise of the Brexit Party — or a similar party — some 18 months ago. “I said if we continued in this supine way, there would rise again, like a great puffball, a right-wing party. The only way to address it is for us to get Brexit done, but also to get it done in such a way that we actually deliver on the mandate of the British people. If we can’t do that, there really will continue to be that threat from the Brexit Party and others.” He cast himself as the best-placed figure to take on Nigel Farage, a message likely to be at the core of his campaign. He has also reiterated in recent Daily Telegraph columns that he has the talents to defeat Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader.

These remarks came after Mr Johnson gave a speech on insurance regulation. He did not take his press secretary to the event and was mobbed by reporters afterwards, but he did not repeat his comments about the leadership.

Mr Johnson’s aides refused to say how much he was paid for the speech but it could have earned him tens of thousands of pounds, given past earnings which included £51,250 for an event in January in Dublin and pounds 122,899 for a conference in India in March. His team said the payments would be declared in the register of members’ interests in the normal way.

Mr Johnson employs a speaking agency, Jeremy Lee Associates, to set up engagements to supplement his £79,468 MP’s salary, £274,992 for a weekly column in The Daily Telegraph and royalties for various books. The event was meant to be closed to the media despite being chaired by Huw Edwards, the BBC presenter, although an audio recording of key sections emerged on the BBC during the day.

The handling of the episode could reinforce concerns among some longstanding allies about Mr Johnson’s levels of organisation. One of the reasons Mr Johnson’s 2016 campaign fell apart was said to have been a lack of behind the scenes organisation.

The former MP James Wharton is running the campaign, although last month Mr Johnson told allies that Sir Lynton Crosby was coming on board. Sir Lynton does not have a formal role at the moment although the pair speak “every day”. His company CTF Partners has given Mr Johnson a loan and donations in recent months.

Mr Johnston’s main donors are Jon Wood, a hedge-fund manager and Vote Leave donor who gave £50,000 in October, JCB, the construction equipment maker chaired by the Conservative peer Lord Bamford, which has given pounds 45,000 in the past year, and Johan Christofferson, a hedge-fund manager and fox-hunting enthusiast who gave £16,000 in March.

The Times