‘He couldn’t could he?’: Tories divided over battle to ‘bring back Boris’

Within 24 hours of Liz Truss resigning as the UK’s prime minister, her predecessor is reported to be flying back to London from a holiday in the Caribbean to shore up support for a dramatic return to power.

“The battle to replace Liz Truss is already raging”, said The Telegraph, with Boris Johnson “eyeing the mother of all comebacks”, according to The Sun. Nearly 40 Conservative MPs – including Nadine Dorries, Paul Bristow and James Duddridge – have so far declared their backing for the former prime minister, according to Conservative Home.

But “the all-too-real prospect of Boris Johnson making a jaw-dropping return to Downing Street has unnerved scores of MPs”, said Politico’s London Playbook, and left the Conservative Party “teetering on the brink of a historic split”.

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‘Immediate revolt’

A “‘Stop Boris’ effort” is already underway “in several pockets of the Conservative Party”, Politico reported. MPs critical of Johnson have threatened “an immediate revolt” if he returns to No. 10, with some “even contemplating quitting the Commons in despair”, said The Sun.

A veteran Conservative MP told Politico that Johnson “is not the way to solve” the party’s “credibility problem”. The former PM is still under investigation for allegedly lying to Parliament about a series of lockdown-breaking gatherings that took place in No. 10 during the pandemic.

A source told The Sun that “documents, emails, pictures and messages” had been handed over to the privileges committee which is managing the probe, informing the paper that the evidence was “so damning it was likely to lead to a Commons suspension” of Johnson.

The candidates will need to secure 100 nominations to proceed to the first round of the week-long leadership contest, giving the runners “until 2pm on Monday to gather the numbers”, said The Telegraph. This high threshold raises “doubts” over whether Johnson will secure enough nominations before the deadline, “given how support drained from him earlier this year”.

“Party chiefs had to deny” that the rules of the leadership contest had been drawn up to “block” Johnson, the newspaper continued.

‘Picked up steam’

Even so, “Johnson’s support has picked up steam”, said Politico, with his backers pointing out that he is the only potential candidate who has actually received a mandate from the public.

Reports suggest the former PM has asked the team that helped him to win the 2019 general election to “run his campaign for a return to No. 10”, said The Times, while The Telegraph has reported that he is putting “his ability to win elections” at “the heart of his pitch”. Tories “flirting with backing Johnson reckon he gives them the best chance of retaining their seats” at the next election, added Politico.

The Telegraph reported that the former PM is “pressing” Rishi Sunak “to reach out and ‘get back together’ in a remarkable olive branch after their public falling out at the top of government”. The leadership battle is now “expected to be a three-horse race” between Sunak, Johnson and Penny Mordaunt, said The Times.

Following a night of speculation and unconfirmed reports of Johnson’s candidacy, the Daily Express’s front page on Friday morning read: “He couldn’t, could he...”

“As usual, Johnson is at the center of attention and keeping Westminster guessing”, said Politico.