Brexit: Tories rush to stop Boris Johnson, Labour plots Jeremy Corbyn coup

Senior Tories are mounting “stop Boris” leadership bids as Jeremy Corbyn sacks top aid over planned coup.

Tories are rushing to stop Boris Johnson from becoming British PM.

British Justice Secretary Michael Gove has endorsed Boris Johnson’s bid to be prime minister, setting up a “dream team” bid to replace David Cameron.

Mr Gove called the former London mayor yesterday morning and told him he would back him for the Tory leadership, saying the two should join forces for the good of the country.

Theresa May’s closest aides were last night calling MPs to line up support for the home secretary. May, who is regarded as Johnson’s main rival with a national profile, is expected to enter the contest by the end of the week. She is likely to get the backing of some Cameron loyalists. A member of the PM’s circle said: “There is a special place in hell reserved for Boris. He and Gove have basically engineered a right-wing coup. We need to get behind Theresa. She’s the grown-up.”

Five other senior Tories also today break cover to mount “stop Boris” leadership bids. Signalling their intentions to run, Nicky Morgan, Stephen Crabb, Liam Fox and George Freeman call for the party to change direction as they mapped out blueprints for their campaigns. Aides said Jeremy Hunt, health secretary, is also “considering a run”.

Gove is now wooing George Osborne, the chancellor, to join the “dream team” as two senior ministers close to the chancellor indicated their support for Johnson, saying it would be better to get behind the frontrunner than seek to destroy him.

Meanwhile Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has sacked his shadow foreign secretary over reports he was planning to spearhead a coup against him.

In a midnight telephone call, Corbyn told Hilary Benn he was kicking him out of the top team.

It follows claims that Benn called fellow Labour MPs over the weekend to take soundings about a putsch.

“Jeremy has sacked him on the grounds that he has lost confidence in him,” a Labour spokesman said.

It may not stop a coup: many of the Labour front bench have concluded that Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the party is untenable following the Brexit vote.

At least a third of the Labour leader’s top team are set to resign unless he goes first, senior party sources said.

While Benn, who fell out with Corbyn over bombing Syria, was “leading the charge” and seeking support for an ultimatum this week, MPs said a canvassing operation is also under way to test support for John McDonnell, Corbyn’s hard-left ally, taking the job if he is ousted.

A source close to the shadow chancellor insisted that if it is happening “it is not with our consent”.

Moderates are trying to find a unity candidate, with deputy leader Tom Watson and Angela Eagle, the shadow business secretary, favourites for the role and Yvette Cooper, who stood against Corbyn in the last leadership contest, also being mentioned.

A shadow cabinet source claimed: “He will be out by the end of the week.”

However, another senior Labour source predicted that the coup would fail because Corbyn will dig in and refuse to go, even if shadow ministers start resigning.

Yesterday Corbyn insisted he will not resign and vowed to stand again if a contest is triggered, a nightmare scenario for many moderates.

Senior backbencher Margaret Hodge and MP Ann Coffey have tabled a motion of no confidence that is expected to be discussed at the parliamentary Labour Party meeting tomorrow and could be voted on the following day.

Neil Coyle, who nominated Corbyn for the leadership but will back the motion, told The Sunday Times: “If he was not prepared to stand up for our membership of the European Union and all the benefits that go with that, what is it he is fighting for? Because just saying the Tories are bad is not enough.”

Hard-left activists have been targeting Labour MPs, who fear deselection at the hands of Corbyn’s supporters, in what moderates believe is a co-ordinated campaign of intimidation ahead of the vote.

Coyle urged his colleagues to think about the looming threat of a general election, saying: “MPs need to think about elections, not selections.”

The huge support in Labour’s heartlands for leaving the EU suggested that Labour could be reduced to just 75 MPs, down from 232 last May, one shadow cabinet minister claimed.

Some of Corbyn’s critics are arguing that the no-confidence motion should be delayed to allow the shadow cabinet time to put pressure on Corbyn to go with dignity. Others are opposed, saying it will give Corbyn’s “panicking” team time to muster support.

If the motion fails, rebels say they have the 50 names needed to trigger a leadership contest.

One plotter said that the different coup attempts were now “out of control”.

While moderates are split on tactics, they are united by dismay at the vote to leave the EU and say that Corbyn is partly to blame because of his unenthusiastic campaign for “remain”.

Some even claim his hard-left aides deliberately sabotaged the campaign. “They have already taken the leadership. They have now talked us out of the European Union,” a shadow cabinet source said.

MPs insist that their fury is shared by many party members, who have been contacting them to call for Corbyn to go.

He has compounded the anger with his reaction to the Brexit vote, initially calling for Britain to start exit negotiations immediately, before rowing back, then finally acknowledging immigration as an issue but offering no plans.

“Every speech Jeremy has made since the result has made this worse,” said one shadow cabinet minister who is poised to resign.

“There is a real danger of an early general election and the present situation is simply unsustainable.

“Labour has to prove that we have listened to what many of our voters have said. That is real leadership.”

The senior MP added: “If Jeremy tries to hold on by his fingertips he will destroy the Labour Party.”

Corbyn was heckled and told to quit over Britain’s vote to leave the EU as he tried to address Labour activists at the gay Pride march in London yesterday.

The incident comes a year after the veteran MP received a rapturous reception from the crowd at Pride in the first sign of the support that would propel him to the Labour leadership.

Corbyn replied: “I did all I could”, before walking off, as activists shouted “coward”.

Former Labour general secretary Lord Collins witnessed the scene and rebuked Corbyn, saying he was “really disappointed” that the leader did not stay to answer the criticism.

“He should respond and not walk away,” the peer said.

The Sunday Times