Wizard of Oz Lynton Crosby fixing Boris Johnson coup against Theresa May

Theresa May faces a fresh threat to her leadership as the Australian who ran her campaign now works to install Boris Johnson.

Sir Lynton and Lady Dawn Crosby attend the Australia Day Gala Dinner at Australia House, London. picture David Dyson

British Prime Minister Theresa May is facing a fresh threat to her leadership as senior Tories said the man who ran her election campaign is secretly masterminding a bid to destroy her Brexit plan and install former foreign ­secretary Boris Johnson in Downing Street.

Sir Lynton Crosby — the Australian election guru who helped Mr Johnson win two London mayoral elections — has ordered his allies to work with hardline Brexiteers in the House of Commons to run a nationwide campaign against the Prime Minister’s Chequers plan.

One of Sir Lynton’s senior staff at his firm CTF Partners is in close contact with the European Research Group of Brexit hardliners run by Jacob Rees-Mogg and a campaign that is seen as a front for Mr Johnson’s leadership ambitions. MPs plan to publish an alternative to Mrs May’s plan before the Tory party conference with the backing of Mr Johnson and former Brexit secretary David Davis, who resigned from the cabinet over Chequers.

The revelations come as it can revealed that Mrs May’s aides have had talks with civil servants about whether to call a general election if her Brexit deal is voted down by MPs. They have also discussed whether she should announce that she would stand down in the year after Brexit.

Boris Johnson in Whitehall last month. Picture: AP

The revelation that the Tories’ top election strategist is trying to destroy Mrs May’s flagship policy will ignite a firestorm in Westminster. Sir Lynton is understood to think that Mrs May’s plan — which will keep Britain in permanent close alignment with Brussels — would betray the voters who backed Brexit and hurt the Conservative Party at the next election. Sir Lynton, known as the Wizard of Oz, is also said to be angry that Mrs May’s aides sought to blame him for the disastrous 2017 election campaign.

One of his staff, David Canzini, is revitalising Change Britain, a pro-Brexit group, to campaign against the Chequers deal and give Mr Johnson a personal platform. He is working closely with former Brexit minister Steve Baker and Stewart Jackson, formerly Mr Davis’s aide. In recent days, Mr Canzini’s Twitter feed has featured messages attacking the Chequers deal and retweeting Brexiteers such as Mr Baker, Jackson and former UKIP leader Nigel Farage and former Tory cabinet minister Priti Patel.

A senior Tory said: “Lynton’s firm is working with the ERG to run this campaign to bring down Chequers. It looks like Lynton is hitting back after falling out over the election campaign and is trying to boot out the Prime Minister. They want to get Boris in.”

One of those involved admitted that destroying Chequers would lead to Mrs May’s resignation: “If we stop Chequers, there is no way she’ll survive.”

Sir Lynton is abroad, but officials at party HQ say he has been contacting Tory donors urging them to fund the campaign.

Theresa May inspects an honour guard in Nairobi last week. Picture: AP

Mr Davis has privately welcomed the involvement of Sir Lynton’s firm, for bringing professionalism and organisation to sometimes disparate Eurosceptic groups — but he does not back Mr Johnson as leader.

Tory MPs keeping count say that 33 letters calling for Mrs May’s head were submitted to party bosses before the summer recess — 15 short of the number needed to trigger a vote of no ­confidence.

In a further assault on Mrs May’s authority, Nick Boles, a close ally of Environment Secretary Michael Gove, will this week call on the Prime Minister to ditch the Chequers plan and take Britain into a Norway-style relationship with the EU.

Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg asks Theresa May a question after her statement in the House of Commons on Brexit in July. Picture: AFP

At the weekend, Mrs May sought to shore up support from Brexiteers by ruling out holding a second referendum on Brexit, saying it would be a “gross betrayal” of those who voted for Brexit.

She said she would not “give in to those who want to reopen the whole question with a second ­referendum.

“In the summer of 2016, millions came out to have their say. They trusted that their vote would count; that after years of feeling ignored by politics, their voices would be heard.

“To ask the question all over again would be a gross betrayal of our democracy — and a betrayal of that trust.”

A spokesman for CTF Partners confirmed the company’s involvement. “CTF’s senior staff are often consulted because of their campaign expertise and knowledge. That’s not unusual,” he said.

A source close to Mr Johnson said: “While Boris has always backed the aims of Change ­Britain, he has no role in the ­organisation.”

The Sunday Times