Swallow your pride – bring back Boris, Kwasi tells PM
SENIOR Tories yesterday urged Rishi Sunak to ‘swallow his pride’ and ask Boris Johnson to help him take the fight to Labour at this year’s General Election.
The Prime Minister is under mounting pressure to bury the hatchet and harness Mr Johnson’s campaigning skills which helped deliver a landslide in 2019.
Friends of the former PM yesterday confirmed he would expect Mr Sunak to make the first move if he wants him to return to the political frontline in an election campaign expected this autumn.
Former business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng urged Mr Sunak not to let pride stand in the way of deploying one of the Tories’ greatest electoral assets. ‘I’ve always been a big Boris fan,’ he said.
‘He had very good success as an electoral force. We’re
‘Something has to change’
20 points behind, and the polls haven’t really moved in the last year. So it’s not time to simply say “more of the same”.’
Speaking to GB News, Mr Kwarteng added: ‘Something has to change for us to have a chance of winning. And if that means swallowing some pride and suppressing a bit of ego by reaching out to someone who’s a proven campaigner then, yeah, he should do that.’
Housing Secretary Michael Gove also welcomed the idea of a return for Mr Johnson.
The two led the successful Vote Leave campaign during the 2016 Brexit referendum. But Mr Johnson fell out with Mr Gove when he torpedoed his campaign to succeed David Cameron as prime minister.
One of Mr Johnson’s last big acts in government was to sack Mr Gove, who allies accused of disloyalty. But Mr Gove yesterday encouraged Mr Sunak to bring him back for the campaign. ‘ Every Conservative should be doing all we can to make sure Rishi is re-elected,’ he said.
‘Boris has got enormous gifts and I would hope he would play a role... in the electoral fight ahead. It is up to him – he has already done great service to this country and that has to be respected.’
Asked whether Mr Sunak should pick up the phone to Mr Johnson, Mr Gove added: ‘Maybe they should go for a drink together.’
The Conservative clamour for Mr Johnson to be handed an election role is growing following a string of gloomy opinion polls putting Labour 20 points ahead. At the weekend, science minister Andrew Griffith said Mr Johnson was a ‘great voice’ for the Tories.
Calls for action are likely to intensify later this week if the Conservatives perform badly in crunch by- elections in Wellingborough and Kingswood on Thursday. Downing Street is braced for fresh calls for Mr Sunak to resign if the Tories lose both seats.
Mr Sunak is currently estranged from his predecessor, who has criticised his stance on a number of issues, including the decision to scrap the northern leg of HS2.
In a recent interview with ITV Mr Sunak revealed he still speaks to Mr Johnson. But apart from a few words at last year’s Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph, the two are thought to have barely spoken in the past 12 months.
Mr Johnson is said to have been bruised by Mr Sunak’s failure to intervene to stop the witch hunt which drove him out of Parliament and his reluctance to force through his resignation honours list in full.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson declined to comment on the suggestion that he help out on the campaign trail. A No 10 source said Mr Sunak would like ‘ the whole Conservative family to come together to beat Labour’, adding: ‘ Boris, and everyone else united in that aim, will be welcome.’