Ally turns foe as Johnson quits Tory race
In a real-life political drama mixing Shakespearean tragedy with House of Cards, Britain’s victorious anti-EU campaigner Boris Johnson saw his chances of leading his country evaporate Thursday after the defection of a key ally.
The former London mayor dropped his campaign to become Conservative Party leader and prime minister after Justice Secretary Michael Gove abruptly withdrew his support for Johnson and announced he would run himself.
Johnson’s supporters accused Gove of a “calculated plot” and “treachery” and said there was a “very deep pit reserved in hell” for Gove as they alleged that he had been plotting to stand as a candidate for months.
Johnson, a prominent campaigner for Britain’s withdrawal from the 28-nation European Union, told a news conference where he was expected to announce his candidacy that the next Conservative leader would need to unite the party and ensure Britain’s standing in the world.
“Having consulted colleagues and in view of the circumstances in Parliament, I have concluded that person cannot be me,” he said to the astonishment of gathered journalists and supporters.
Johnson paraphrased Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, saying it was “a time not to fight against the tide of history but to take that tide at the flood and sail on to fortune.” It appeared to be a dig at Gove — the reference is to a line spoken by Brutus, the Roman leader’s ally turned assassin.
Others drew a more contemporary parallel.
Conservative lawmaker Nigel Evans told the BBC that it made the House of Cards drama show look like Teletubbies, a children’s TV show.
Johnson and Gove had campaigned together to yank Britain from the EU. But since their unexpected victory, they have been accused of failing to lay out concrete plans for Britain’s divorce from the EU. But it was believed that Gove would support Johnson in his bid to become Conservative leader.
Gove, a former journalist with the Rupert Murdochowned Times newspaper, had long disclaimed any ambition to be Britain’s leader. Asked earlier this month if he would run, he said: “Count me out.”
But on Thursday, only two hours before Johnson was to make a speech about his ambitions, Gove announced that he would stand as a leadership candidate and lambasted his friend of 20 years.
“Boris is a big character with great abilities and I enjoyed working with him in the referendum campaign, when he campaigned with great energy and enthusiasm. But there is something special about leading a party and leading a country, and I had the opportunity in the last few days to assess whether or not Boris could lead that team and built that unity.
“And I came reluctantly but firmly to the conclusion that while Boris has many talents and attributes, he wasn’t capable of building that team.”
The first public signs of a split between Johnson and Gove came in an email from Gove’s wife, newspaper columnist Sarah Vine, obtained by Sky News on Wednesday. It suggested that Gove should ensure he had specific guarantees from Johnson before backing the latter’s bid. Vine added that influential media barons Murdoch and Paul Dacre, editor of the right-wing Daily Mail, “instinctively dislike” Johnson.
Steven Fielding, professor of politics at the University of Nottingham, said Johnson “wasn’t trusted enough by the people who really wield power in British politics — Rupert Murdoch and Paul Dacre.”
“Gove, as Rupert Murdoch’s representative in politics, basically knifed him,” Fielding said.
“This was a carefully planned assassination,” an ally of Johnson said. “It was systematic and calculated to do the maximum damage to Boris. “When (Gove) saw his opportunity for an act of midnight treachery he took it.”
The drama was a reminder of past ruthlessness in the Conservative Party, which has a history of overturning its leaders. Even its most successful prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, was ousted by her own party in 1990.
Johnson’s departure makes Gove and Home Secretary Theresa May the favourites among five contenders to lead the Conservatives.
Johnson’s decision to break with longtime ally Prime Minister David Cameron and back the “leave” side in Britain’s EU referendum seemed to have paid off when Cameron announced he would resign after last week’s vote in favour of exiting the bloc.
Cameron’s announcement triggered a Conservative leadership race in which Johnson was expected be a front-runner, with Gove as his campaign manager.