Johnson ‘won’t go quietly’ if demoted in reshuffle
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Minister told The Sunday Times: “It has never been my style to hide from a challenge and I’m not going to start now.” Several Cabinet ministers have made it clear that Mrs May would have their support if she removed the Foreign Secretary, whom they blame for “destabilising” the party.
Mr Johnson has been accused of disloyalty over his decision to announce a series of Brexit “red lines” on the eve of the party conference, including warning that the transition should not last “a second longer” than two years.
However, Mr Johnson’s allies said that removing him would be “insane”. One Tory minister highlighted Andrea Leadsom, who threatened to resign after being sacked as Environment Secretary. Following a stand-off with Mrs May, she was offered a high-profile media role in promoting and defending the Government alongside her position as Leader of the Commons.
The minister said: “Let’s say she tries to move Boris to defence secretary. Leadsom said no thank you, and Boris carries significantly more influence. He’d just say no – what is she going to do about it? There’s a stench of death emanating from Downing Street. If you were a Brexiteer you would be worried [if Mr Johnson was demoted]. You’d look around the Cabinet table and see Remainers occupying the key positions.”
Another minister said: “Brexit is absolutely crucial to democracy in this country now. If we fail to deliver that, the public will never forgive us. A reshuffle would be a huge distraction, we don’t need to replace people for the hell of it. It [removing Mr Johnson] will undermine public confidence in Brexit. It would be counter-productive.”
Lord Heseltine, the former deputy prime minister, also suggested that Mrs May would be taking a “high-risk” gamble if she sacked Mr Johnson.
He said: “I think that if she wants to assert her authority she would have to sack him, but of course it’s a high-risk policy because he will be on the back benches and he won’t go quietly.”
Nadine Dorries, a Eurosceptic Tory MP, said Mr Hammond should be sacked instead. She said: “I think he’s been deliberately trying to make the Brexit negotiations difficult.”