Boris backing gives Leadsom grassroots boost
BORIS Johnson last night backed energy minister Andrea Leadsom to win the Tory leadership – in a hammer blow to the hopes of his political assassin Michael Gove.
The major players in the race to succeed David Cameron had been courting Mr Johnson since he was forced out of the running last week.
The former London mayor – hugely popular with the Tory grassroots – spent four days weighing up his options before last night plumping for his fellow Brexiteer Mrs Leadsom.
Mr Johnson has stressed he wants to stay in frontline politics, triggering speculation he has been offered a major job by the Leadsom camp.
She has no declared Cabinet backers – making Mr Johnson by far her most prominent supporter. Her odds immediately shortened to 9/4, making her the second favourite behind Theresa May.
Mr Johnson is likely to play a key role in helping Mrs Leadsom win the votes of the party’s rank and file. Crucially, MPs who back him are likely to follow to Mrs Leadsom, leaving the already struggling Mr Gove with a mountain to climb.
Only two contenders will be put forward to a vote of the party membership – with a run-off between Mrs Leadsom and Mrs May most likely, MPs said.
One senior Tory source said of Mr Gove: ‘He is dead in the water now. He simply cannot get the votes to beat Leadsom. Gove destroyed Boris – the compliment has now been repaid.’
In a statement which electrified the battle for Number Ten, Mr Johnson said: ‘Andrea Leadsom offers the zap, the drive, and the determination essential for the next leader of this country. She has long championed the needs of the most vulnerable in our society.
‘She has a better understanding of finance than almost anyone else in Parliament. She has considerable experience of government. She is level-headed, kind, trustworthy, approachable and the possessor of a good sense of humour. She has specialised in the EU question and successfully campaigned for leave and will be therefore well placed to help forge a great post-Brexit future for Britain and Europe. Above all she possesses the qualities needed to bring together leavers and remainers in the weeks and months ahead. I will be voting for Andrea Leadsom tomorrow.’
His remark about Mrs Leadsom’s sense of humour was seen as a dig at Mrs May, who is depicted as very serious and lacking warmth by some MPs. Mr Johnson and Mrs May also have bad blood between them – most recently over her refusal to let him use water cannon on the streets of London.
Friends of Mrs Leadsom said she was ‘delighted and really grateful’ for Mr Johnson’s support.
It came as her allies were last night forced to deny she is the ‘Ukip candidate’ for Tory leader as she launched her campaign to lead Britain to the ‘sunlit uplands’ outside the EU. The energy minister has been publicly backed by Aaron Banks, a millionaire Ukip supporter and close ally of Nigel Farage.
Mr Banks has emailed thousands of Brexit supporters urging them to ask their local Tory MP to nominate Mrs Leadsom, whom he claims could ‘thaw’ Ukip-Conservative relations.
But some Tory MPs insist it would be toxic for her to ally herself with Mr Banks or Ukip, which has been involved in a string of bloody campaigns against sitting Conservatives over the years.
On Sunday, Mrs Leadsom failed to rule out giving Mr Farage a role in her negotiating team. But yesterday, the Leadsom team said taking Britain out of the EU would be a job for the Tory government and its members only.
Iain Duncan Smith, a prominent supporter of Mrs Leadsom, insisted she was not accepting any support from Mr Banks or Ukip. The former Cabinet minister said: ‘We are running the show and that is exactly what it should be. All the other issues are just silly stories.’
Asked specifically about whether Mr Banks was funding the campaign, Mr Duncan Smith said: ‘ No absolutely not … There are no donations, no support, no involvement. This is about the Conservatives picking the next PM and governing as a Conservative government. All the rest of it is tittle-tattle.’
Mrs Leadsom launched her campaign at Westminster yesterday, flanked by leading figures from the Brexit campaign. Her backers include Sir Bill Cash, defence minister Penny Mordaunt, and ex-Cabinet minister Owen Paterson.
She pledged to retake control of Britain’s borders and trigger Article 50 – the legal mechanism for leaving the EU – as soon as she became prime minister.
The former City high-flier promised to invest billions of pounds extra in the NHS, provide more early intervention to help children struggling at school and axe cuts targeted at the low-paid.
Despite concerns among some MPs that she has never served in the Cabinet, Mrs Leadsom said: ‘I know from long experience how our economy works.
‘I know how to strike a deal in a tough negotiation. I know, as a woman, how to succeed in a man’s world and how to fight the unfortunate prejudice many working mums experience.’
‘Gove dead in the water now’