Tory alarm at talk of a Johnson comeback

Supporters of Boris Johnson are thought to be plotting to force a vote before Christmas on bringing the outgoing British prime minister back to the top job.

Liz Truss laughs as the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg recalls the Foreign Secretary’s recreation. Picture: AFP

Boris Johnson’s allies have been warned that it would be “suicidal” for the Conservatives to try to force a new vote of confidence in Liz Truss in a campaign to get the outgoing prime minister back into No.10.

Supporters of Mr Johnson are thought to be plotting to immediately send letters to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, with the aim of forcing a vote before Christmas.

One supporter said it would soon be realised that the party had lost a “first-rate” leader. Jake Berry, the Tory MP who has been tipped to become party chairman under Ms Truss, the frontrunner throughout the contest, suggested that such an attempt to return to office by Mr Johnson would destroy the party.

Mr Berry, who was one of Mr Johnson’s first supporters when he ran for leader, told Times Radio that while he was not sure that any plot was “sexist, it’s certainly suicidal”.

Another senior Tory said that Mr Johnson could not regain the support of the party. Philip Hammond, the former chancellor, said that he could become a “malevolent shadow” over the party if he failed to move on.

The privileges committee is due to meet behind closed doors on Wednesday as the inquiry into whether Mr Johnson misled the Commons over the parties scandal gathers momentum.

Eddie Lister, who was Johnson’s chief of staff, said there was “no need” for the investigation “at all”. He said he was surprised that a leadership race was being held and that Mr Johnson was “very sad” and “very shocked”.

“I always thought that he [Johnson] would actually be able to get through this,” Lord Udney-Lister told Times Radio. He said that he would “never say never” about a potential Mr Johnson comeback. “And when people say, ‘Will he ever come back?’ I would say, ‘Well, maybe.’

“He is a very formidable operator. He is somebody who has proved, and been able to surprise people, time after time. I think when you see him outside, when you when you see some of the stuff I suspect he’ll end up writing and speaking about, people will realise that they really have lost a first-rate person, but thankfully he is staying in the Commons.”

A removal van is pictured outside No.10 Downing Street, ahead of Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s departure from the leadership. Picture: AFP

Lord Hammond told Sky News it was a “fantasy” if the outgoing prime minister thought he could have another run as Tory leader. “I think Boris has not been a good prime minister, I think he’s damaged the office of prime minister, I think he’s damaged the Tory party,” Lord Hammond said.

“I think Boris will no doubt have a very successful career in other fields in the future and I think he should move on and put aside any idea of hanging like a malevolent shadow over the next government. He needs to let the new prime minister get on with his or her job and make it clear that he’s moved on as well.”

Mr Johnson himself echoed the need to support the new leader. Writing in the Sunday Express, he said: “This is the moment for every Conservative to come together – and back that new leader wholeheartedly.”

In a hint that he hoped Ms Truss would succeed him, Mr Johnson said “sensible tax cuts” could be the way to ease the cost of living crisis.

The Sunday Mirror reported a Tory plot in which 12 MPs were willing to submit letters because they felt the only shot the party had at winning the next election was to keep Mr Johnson.

Philip Hammond says it is a ‘fantasy’ if the outgoing prime minister thinks he could have another run as Tory leader. Picture: AFP

David Davis, the former cabinet minister, said the rumours probably come from Boris Johnson’s camp.

“I dismiss most of this stuff about a resurgence of Boris,” he said. “Boris has got some really tough times in the next few months, what with the privileges committee and so on. And if he had not gone because of the resignation of, whatever it was, 50 ministers the very next week the party would have passed a vote of no confidence. That’s why that all happened. We forget that, that he lost confidence in the party and I don’t think he’ll get that back now.”

Nick Thomas-Symonds, the shadow international trade secretary, told Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “It really does show now the Conservative Party has completely lost its way if they are saying credibly that they want to get rid of one leader, then try to have a leadership contest with others, then try and bring the other leader back.”

Jonathan Marland, the former minister and Conservative Party treasurer, said Mr Johnson had told him that his priority was to make money.

He told LBC: “His great statement to me was that he has to now get hay in the loft – go and make some money – to repair his own balance sheet.

“As prime minister you earn so little money and, as it’s been well documented, he’s got a few children and a few ex-wives. So there’s quite a big payroll that he has to satisfy.”

The Times