Outgone Liz Truss, Incoming Boris Johnson?
Shortly after Liz Truss announced she was stepping down as PM, reports surfaced in the Times and Daily Telegraph that her predecessor was thinking of making a comeback.
We’ve reported on those suggestions a little earlier, but here’s what a handful of Boris Johnson’s biggest political allies are saying.
This morning former culture secretary Nadine Dorries said there was only “one person” who had been “elected by the British public with a manifesto and a mandate until January ‘25”. The well-known Johnson loyalist also tweeted to say “MPs must demand [the] return of Boris Johnson – if not it has to be leadership election or a GE [general election]”.
James Duddridge, the current minister of state for international trade and a former parliamentary private secretary of Johnson’s, was more direct. “I hope you enjoyed your holiday boss,” he tweets. “Time to come back. Few issues at the office that need addressing.” He also included a new hashtag that’s doing the rounds: #bringbackboris.
Another Johnson loyalist, Michael Fabricant, says the former PM “may not be the first choice of MPs… but he most certainly is amongst the membership”. Without him, calls for a general election will grow, he warns.
Fellow Conservatives Paul Bristow and Brendan Clarke-Smith have been sharing the same message. Johnson “would be a fine choice” for the top job, Bristow tells Sky News, before adding he doesn’t know if the former leader “even wants it”.
Speaking outside Downing Street, before she threw in the towel, Trusss said she could not deliver the mandate on which she was elected. Her resignation kickstarts a contest to find the next Tory leader and PM – which should produce a result by next Friday. Meanwhile, the newly appointed Chancellor Jeremy Hunt rules himself out. But Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, whom Truss defeated to emerge as PM, are seen as contenders.
Truss’s departure after 45 days in office makes her the shortest-serving PM in UK history. Her now-abandoned September mini-budget started the turmoil; a chaotic night in the Commons on Wednesday sealed her fate.
