TORIES BATTLE TO STOP BORIS
As Brexit vote bites, backing for indyref No2 rises to 48%
LEADING Tories are fighting to become the ‘Stop Boris’ candidate in the race to succeed David Cameron as Prime Minister.
Boris Johnson’s chief leadership rival is Theresa May, but Jeremy Hunt, Nicky Morgan, Stephen Crabb and Andrea Leadsom – and possibly George Osborne – are all poised to launch challenges, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Tory MPs have been bombarded with calls from allies of would-be candidates seeking support since Mr Cameron announced he is to stand down following his shock defeat in the EU referendum – with Johnson strongly tipped to replace him after leading the Leave campaign to an against-all-odds victory.
The Tory leadership manoeuvrings came amid continuing turmoil over the Brexit referendum triumph: Last night:
The EU dealt a blow to Nicola Sturgeon’s renewed bid for Scottish independence, insisting the whole of the UK must quit the union;
Pro-EU Tory grandee Michael Heseltine said the result could lead to ‘the death of the party’;
Vote Leave’s claims it would slash immigration appeared to unravel after one of its leaders said there would be no change to the current EU freedom of movement of labour rule;
European leaders stepped up their campaign to speed up Britain’s exit from the EU, with a demand from an ally of French President Francois Hollande for Cameron to be ‘replaced immediately’;
A Mail on Sunday poll showed 7 per cent of those who voted Leave, equal to more than one million people, now regret having done so. Four per cent of Remain voters also regretted their decision;
Credit agency Moody’s cut Britain’s outlook to ‘negative’, meaning our credit rating could be downgraded;
Mr Johnson’s economics adviser Gerard Lyons said that the City would withstand the economic shock of the Brexit vote.
The complex negotiations to cut Britain’s ties from Brussels and the challenge to keep the economy on track, stave off the constitutional crisis in Scotland and bring warring Tory factions together means there will be no honeymoon period for whoever wins the Tory leadership contest. They will also face calls for a General Election to prove they have a mandate.
Conservative MP Nadine Dories, a leading Johnson supporter, called on other candidates to stand aside so he can become Prime Minister immediately without a ‘bloody and disabling’ leadership contest.
However, other Tories say a contest is vital. Some argue say that for all his charisma, he would not make a good Prime Minister. Others claim that after his involvement in socalled ‘blue on blue’ attacks by Tories on each other during the brutal referendum campaign, an alternative candidate would have a better chance of uniting the party.
‘As far as I’m concerned it’s about ABB – Anyone But Boris,’ said one Tory MP who played a prominent role in the Remain campaign.
Mr Heseltine told The Mail on Sunday that it was ‘unrealistic to assume that those who remained loyal to David Cameron are now about to roll over and proclaim that black is white’.
Warning that ‘the turmoil on the markets shows that Project Fear has already become Project Fact’, he added: ‘The most instructive thing I ever heard Margaret Thatcher say was that she never entered a room without knowing how to get out of it. The Brexiteers have ignored this sound advice.’
The unity of the Conservative Party, said Mr Heseltine, would depend on finding answers acceptable to both sides of the debate. Although none of the party leader candidates has formally announced their intention to stand, the greatest threat to Mr Johnson could come from Home Secretary Mrs May.
When Party supporters were asked to choose between him and Mrs May in a head-to-head contest – mirroring the Conservative leadership contest rules – Mrs May had a small but significant lead, 53 per cent to 47. Among all voters, the two are level pegging. Mrs May’s decision to keep a low profile during the referendum was seen by some as a deliberate attempt to avoid alienating either the pro or anti-EU Tory factions. She is the longest-serving Home Secretary in more than a century and has been praised for her statesmanlike skills, as well as her penchant for kitten-heeled shoes.
Ms Morgan, a protégé of Mr Osborne, was promoted to Education Secretary before the Election after Michael Gove’s policies were judged to have been too controversial.
Energy Minister Ms Leadsom won plaudits for her leading Vote Leave role alongside Mr Johnson in the TV referendum debates.
Health Secretary Mr Hunt survived a fierce battle with striking junior doctors. The dark horse candidate is Work and Pensions Secretary Mr Crabb, 43, the product of a one-parent family and whose wife Beatrice is French.
Mr Osborne has not yet formally ruled out a challenge, though some Brexit Tory MPs say his role in the Remain camp’s Project Fear effectively rules him out as a contender.
Many Tories say Mr Johnson’s Vote Leave ally Mr Gove, the adopted son of an Aberdeen fish trader, would make a far better Prime Minister than Mr Johnson – but Mr Gove is expected to rule himself out in the next few days.
‘For me, it’s ABB – Anyone But Boris’
SUPPORT for a second poll on Scottish independence has increased since Britain voted to leave the European Union.
An exclusive Mail on Sunday poll following the shock Brexit vote shows that 48 per cent of voters in Scotland now back SNP calls for a rerun of the 2014 referendum.
It means that support for a second independence referendum is running four percentage points ahead of those who oppose more constitutional uncertainty, with 44 per cent of Scots saying there should not be another vote and 8 per cent saying they don’t know.
It is significantly different from a previous poll published only weeks before the EU referendum, when 52 per cent of Scots said they would be against a post-Brexit referendum and 48 per cent were for it.
Nicola Sturgeon wants to consider any options that will protect Scotland’s
‘Another referendum is on the table’
place in the EU – and has said another independence referendum is ‘on the table’.
The poll will give the SNP leader encouragement, only days after a majority of Scots voted to remain in the European Union but 52 per cent of people across the whole of the UK voted to leave.
But the MoS poll – carried out by Survation following Friday’s EU referendum result – also shows that voters in England are split on whether or not Scotland should get another vote on separation, with 42 per cent saying yes, 42 per cent saying no and 16 per cent don’t know. Support for a second referendum among Scots is ahead of opposition – in contrast to the picture before the EU referendum.
Last month, an ICM survey found that the electorate’s appetite for a post-Brexit Scottish independence poll was waning, with 48 per cent saying they were against a second referendum in those circumstances compared with 44 per cent in favour.
Today’s MoS poll was carried out across the UK, and includes a proportional sample of voters polled north of the Border.
It also found that Home Secretary Theresa May is the only Tory who voters think can stop Boris Johnson becoming Prime Minister.
When asked to choose from a long list of candidates to be next Prime Minister, the former London Mayor comes out top among Tory candidates with 40 per cent of the vote, compared to Mrs May on 27 per cent and George Osborne on only 12 per cent.
But when it is narrowed down to a choice between the two frontrunners, 53 per cent of Tory voters say they prefer the Home Secretary, compared to 47 per cent who prefer Mr Johnson. That finding is significant, as under Tory party rules members are asked to decide between two candidates selected by MPs.
Across all candidates, 10 per cent say Edinburgh-born Justice Secretary Michael Gove should be the next leader, while 5 per cent back Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson.
Incredibly, the poll also shows that 7 per cent of Leave voters are already regretting the way they voted on Thursday – equivalent to around 1.13million people.
The survey also reveals that 55 per cent of voters think Jeremy Corbyn should step down as Labour leader, with London Mayor Sadiq Khan emerging as the most popular Labour politician.