Johnson calls on May to ‘chuck Chequers’

birmingham — Former British foreign minister Boris Johnson made what was seen as a blatant pitch to replace Prime Minister Theresa May as Conservative leader on Tuesday, damning her Brexit plans while calling for his party to regain its confidence.

In a speech which delighted an audience at the Conservative Party conference, Johnson called for no new taxes and extra health service spending whilst the room erupted into cheers when he said May needed “to chuck Chequers”, as her Brexit proposals are known.

With just six months before Britain leaves the European Union, May’s precarious position at the helm of her party has been further shaken by criticism of her plans, both at home and in Brussels.

Johnson, who became the figurehead for the campaign to leave the European Union, has been one of her loudest critics.

“Do not believe them when they say there is no other plan and no alternative,” Johnson told the hundreds of Conservatives who queued to get a seat in a 1,500-seat conference hall. “This is the moment to chuck Chequers,” he said. “If we cheat the electorate, and Chequers is a cheat, we will escalate that sense of mistrust.” May has shown little sign of moving away from her so-called Chequers plan, but after trying to display unity over Brexit at her party’s annual conference in the city of Birmingham, Johnson looked to have shattered those attempts.

“Turns out there is a plan. That plan is Boris,” Conservative lawmaker James Duddridge tweeted.

The BBC’s Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg wrote on Twitter: “This is what we would euphemistically call a ‘wide ranging speech’ — a blatant pitch for leadership by Johnson, right in heart of conference where May meant to be in charge.”

Johnson made no suggestion he would challenge May, saying the party must back one of May’s earlier Brexit plans which he says she has ditched, and said one of the few predictions the Treasury department had got right was that he would not be prime minister. —

Do not believe them when they say there is no other plan and no alternative. If we cheat the electorate, and Chequers is a cheat, we will escalate that sense of mistrust.

Boris Johnson, Former foreign secretary