Boris’ power games
SHAMELESS: MELTDOWN OVER BID TO OUST MAY Schemer plotting to become PM
MOVING into position to seize power from Theresa May, double-crosser Boris Johnson has taken the biggest gamble of his political career.
Flouncing out of the Cabinet over Mrs May’s EU withdrawal blueprint is the second time in just over two years that he has knifed a Prime Minister.
Mr Johnson is understood to be plotting a fresh tilt for the Tory crown.
Backbencher Sir Robert Syms retweeted a comment branding his scheming colleague “f ****** appalling”.
Scottish Tory Party leader Ruth Davidson said: “[Mrs May] made clear this weekend collective Cabinet responsibility must be observed on Brexit.
“If individual ministers can’t sign up to that, then it is only right they are no longer part of the Government.”
Tory Remainer Anna Soubry accused Mr Johnson of having a “multi-faceted set of principles”. Mr Johnson has been accused of backing Brexit in 2016 only because he believed it offered a him a better chance of becoming party leader.
He had even written a newspaper article supporting Remain.
Joining the Leave campaign was seen as a cold betrayal of his Old Etonian pal, the then PM David Cameron. After the referendum and Mr Cameron’s resigna-
tion, BoJo intended to run for the party leadership.
He scrapped the bid after his fitness to be in charge was questioned by fellow Brexiteer Michael Gove. Mr Johnson has never hidden his leadership ambitions but his resignation letter last night made no mention of his plans.
After his departure he was 14/1 with Ladbrokes to become the next PM – trailing behind the likes of Sajid Javid at 4/1.
Mr Johnson’s exit comes two weeks after he betrayed constituents by flying to Afghanistan in a hastilyarranged visit to dodge a Commons vote on a third Heathrow runway. He had promised voters in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip patch, close to the West London airport, he would “lie down in front of bulldozers” to prevent Heathrow expansion. Some thought Mrs May pulled off a masterstroke by making BoJo the Foreign Secretary in 2016. He spent much of his time out of the country rather than cosying up to Tory MPs whose support he would need for a tilt at the top job. Soon after his return as an MP at the 2015 general election, he was seen in a Commons bar accompanied only by his sister, journalist Rachel Johnson.
Witnesses said he looked “lonely” and surprised no one was trying to engage him in conversation.
And the conclusion in the aftermath of the 2016 leadership debacle was he had missed his chance to take the helm.
Insiders said the Tory train had moved on and there were better candidates who were less controversial. Jacob Rees-Mogg – another posh, millionaire Old Etonian – then leapfrogged him as the party’s favourite Brexiteer.
While Mr Johnson was London Mayor from 2008 to 2016, his speeches at Conservative Party conferences left the Tory faithful in rapture.
And as he toured the UK in the referendum campaign in his red bus emblazoned with promises about NHS funding if the UK voted to “take back control”, it seemed he could be destined for No 10. He became favourite to replace Mr Cameron but bottled it after Mr Gove’s intervention.
Mr Johnson has spent two years
If ministers can’t sign up to this, they should not be part of the Govt RUTH DAVIDSON ON MRS MAY’S CALL FOR UNITY
brooding as the Brexit he promoted has been whittled away.
He has written newspaper articles trying to box in the PM.
And he has sounded off at supposedly secret dinners, attacking Mrs May’s Brexit plan.
She indulged him, rather than firing him. But in the aftermath of the Chequers summit, she insisted collective Cabinet responsibility had been restored.
It was a thinly-veiled warning anyone who stepped out of line would have to quit or face the sack.
BoJo tersely announced his resignation in a brief statement.
His pride wounded, his Brexit vision in tatters, only time will tell if his departure has left him as stranded as he was on that zipwire before the Olympics in 2012.