Battle for Boris to lead us out of EU
A BANDWAGON of support for Boris Johnson to become Britain’s next prime minister was building last night.
A gang of senior backbenchers gathered with the former London mayor at his Oxfordshire home yesterday to plot their strategy for the looming contest to select David Cameron’s successor.
Mr Johnson, who was the star of the Vote Leave campaign, welcomed a string of supporters to his home yesterday including MPs Jake Berry, Amanda Milling, Nigel Adams and Ben Wallace.
But allies of the Prime Minister – who resigned last Friday after his referendum defeat – have already launched a “stop Boris” operation, looking to push Home Secretary Theresa May forward as an alternative candidate.
However Andrew Bridgen, another Tory backbencher, described Mr Johnson as a “winner” whose popularity with voters could help the party to a general election victory.
“Boris is a proven winner. It’s wrong that he is being smeared,” he said,
“There are other good candidates too such as David Davis and Andrea Leadsom. There is some talk about delaying the leadership contest but that would not be right. The country wants us to get on, sort this out and provide some leadership.”
Westminster sources last night said Justice Secretary Michael Gove, another key figure in Vote Leave, was being lined up as co-chair of Mr Johnson’s leadership campaign.
A second co-chair from the Remain camp could also be sought to try to forge a “unity ticket”.
Still yet another suggestion was that Mr Johnson and Theresa May could team up to avoid a damaging leadership battle. Former ministers Liam Fox and David Davis also emerged as possible contenders from the Right of the party as some senior Eurosceptic MPs cast doubt on Mr Johnson’s Brexit credentials.
And Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb was also being pressed to stand.
There were also calls for senior figures from Ukip – including party leader Nigel Farage – to play a role in the Government’s Brexit negotiations. One Tory backbencher said: “If I were the next prime minister, I would put Nigel Farage in the House of Lords and let him join the negotiating team for our EU exit.
“I would also encourage as many Ukip members as possible to come and rejoin the Conservatives.”
Lord Heseltine, a former deputy prime minister and a Remain supporter, said the decision to leave must
be respected and the Brexit leaders now needed to be held accountable for the promises they made.
“It is essential negotiations are conducted by Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Nigel Farage, the architects of this policy,” he said,
“Any other negotiating team will produce claims that those three would have achieved a better result and during the negotiations they will excuse any deterioration in Britain’s position as a failure of the negotiators.”
Lord Heseltine suggested there will need to be a general election for Parliament to sign off on Brexit.
Other MPs appealed for the infighting to be toned down.
“We need to stop slagging each other off. Let’s leave the Labour Party to play at squabbling in the playpen,” one backbencher said.
James Cleverly, another Tory MP, said: “I’ve always said this referendum would make life tough for the Conservatives but cause an existential crisis for the Labour Party.
“Our job now is to start showing the country the leadership that it is clearly crying out for.”
International Development Minister Justine Greening appealed for a “united leadership” bringing Mr Johnson and Mrs May together to heal the party’s referendum split.
Turbulent
“Instead of a leadership contest which could take months, Boris Johnson and Theresa May should agree to forge a deal which means they are a united leadership I hope the rest of our party could support,” she wrote on the ConservativeHome website.
Sources close to Mr Crabb – a lowprofile supporter of the Remain campaign – confirmed he had been pressed to enter the race.
“But he is taking some time to talk to his family and really think things through,” said one.
Former defence secretary Liam Fox, a challenger for the party leadership against David Cameron 11 years ago, said he was still considering another challenge.
“I am thinking about it, it would be dishonest to say otherwise. But I will make a decision once I have spoken to my colleagues in Parliament.”
Overall, the Tories face a turbulent and uncertain time. One ally of Mr Cameron warned: “This idea of a Boris bandwagon is going to peter out very quickly. He doesn’t have a following in the Commons.
“David Cameron is head and shoulders above anyone else in the Commons in terms of ability and intellect. Boris comes nowhere near him.”
Another MP echoed this: “We need to stop this idea that it is a coronation for Boris.”