IDS ‘ready to back Boris in Tory leadership battle’

TWO senior Brexiteers are said to be ready to back Boris Johnson as Tory leader.

Former party leader Iain Duncan Smith and ex-Cabinet minister Owen Paterson have told friends they will support the exforeign secretary and London mayor, says a senior Conservative source.

This would boost Mr Johnson as he vies with former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab for the votes of pro-Leave MPs. But Mr Duncan Smith was not ready to reveal any decision last night and told the Mail he was ‘genuinely not committed’ to anyone’.

Mr Paterson did not respond to requests for comment and sources close to Mr Johnson also declined to comment.

Earlier this week another ex-Brexit secretary, David Davis, hinted he could also run, claiming MPs have been ‘coming to me for months’. But some MPs say he is far behind Mr Raab and Mr Johnson. One said he shared responsibility with Theresa May for ‘f****** up’ Brexit, because he signed up to the Northern Ireland backstop.

Mrs May has promised to quit once Brexit happens, but with no breakthrough the formal leadership race has not begun.

Allies of Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt claim rivals are behind reports that he has won up to 75 endorsements from MPs. One told the Mail: ‘The knives are out. There’s lots of c**p being put about. It’s an attempt by a rival camp to inflate expectations and damage Jeremy.’

Some MPs want the rules changed to give party members four candidates to choose from instead of the current two.

Others want to cut out the membership entirely, warning that the party has been ‘infiltrated’ by former Ukip supporters.