Boris Johnson ‘waiting in the wings for next prime minister to fail’

Boris Johnson has not ruled out ­attempting a comeback should his successor’s government collapse, according to allies.

Former British health secretary Sajid Javid mops his brow while launching his bid to be the next Conservative Party leader on Monday in London. Picture: Getty Images

Boris Johnson has not ruled out ­attempting a comeback should his successor’s government collapse, according to allies.

The British Prime Minister will not “fade into the background” after standing down but will stay on as a backbench Tory MP until the next election in 2025.

One ally said Mr Johnson’s successor was likely to struggle to cope with an even more divided party, particularly if former chancellor Rishi Sunak won the contest. Right-wing Tories are opposed to his leadership and could revolt over Brexit, they said.

Combined with a recession it could be enough to end a Sunak premiership.

“He’s not gone for the long term,” the ally said of Mr Johnson.

“A third of the parliamentary party is loyal to him and he’s not standing down as an MP. He could have significant influence from the outside and then who knows what will happen.”

Another friend compared Mr Johnson to Winston Churchill, who returned to office in 1951. “The party will be begging Boris to come back,” they said. “There will be buyer’s remorse.”

There were claims that Mr Johnson’s wife, Carrie, felt that living in Downing Street was “like a prison”. She felt trapped inside No. 10 and found it like living in a “pressure cooker”, an insider told The Daily Telegraph.

“Downing Street is like a prison,” they said. “It’s nice enough in the flat, but it doesn’t have its own outside space that is genuinely yours. The garden is shared with the staff and you can’t move outside the gates without people following you or taking pictures. That is a nightmare.”

The Prime Minister has declined to back any of the candidates vying to replace him as Conservative Party leader and suggested his support could be damaging.

On Monday, he dismissed questions over whether he felt ­“betrayed” by his own MPs and instead pledged to fulfil the established constitutional role of a caretaker prime minister.

“I don’t want to say any more about all that,” he said. “There’s a contest under way and, you know, I wouldn’t want to damage anybody’s chances by offering my ­support.”

Mr Johnson also insisted that the outcome of the attempt to ­replace him “will be good” despite many candidates having worked to oust him.

Under rules finalised on Monday, leadership candidates will need the support of 20 of the party’s MPs to get on the ballot paper.

The threshold was raised after it emerged that as many as 12 Tory MPs were expected to launch a leadership bid.

Mr Sunak and Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt are the only two candidates so far who have enough supporters to get on the ballot paper, with backbencher Tom Tugendhat and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss close to meeting the threshold. Mr Sunak has the declared support of 40 MPs, Ms Mordaunt has 24, Mr Tugendhat 18 and Ms Truss 15.

Nominations for election closed on Tuesday, and the first ­secret ballot of MPs will take place later on Wednesday AEST.

In that contest, any candidate who receives fewer than 30 votes will be eliminated. The remaining candidates will go to a second round of voting on Thursday.

At that point it is expected that the candidate who comes last in the ballot will be eliminated. There will be a third round on Monday if necessary and further rounds after that if required, until MPs have whittled down the field to just two names, which will go forward to a vote of party members on September 5.

The first stage is expected to completed before parliament rises for the summer recess on Thursday week. The process means that by the time his successor is elected, Mr Johnson will have served in office for 34 days longer than predecessor Theresa May.

The Times