Will Boris’s Brexit guru stand as MP at next Election?
FORMER Brexit Minister Lord Frost is considering standing as a Conservative candidate at the next General Election – ahead of a possible leadership bid if the Tories lose to Sir Keir Starmer.
Friends of the peer who dramatically quit last year – criticising restrictions to try to contain Covid – say that he has alerted Tory headquarters to his interest in becoming an MP.
A source said: ‘If he does stand, it will be because he thinks he has a chance to lead the party at some point.’ A friend added: ‘Frosty has indicated his interest in standing next time and had a couple of conversations with people in the party. He will consider whether it is a runner in the New Year.’
When he quit a year ago, he cited concern over the ‘direction of travel’ under Boris Johnson who had introduced sweeping Covid restrictions to try to contain the spread of the Omicron variant.
In his resignation letter, he said that the UK needed to ‘learn to live with Covid’ and criticised tax rises – but it later emerged that he was unhappy with Brexit negotiations.
If former diplomat Lord Frost, 57, stands he would theoretically have to resign from the Lords.
He has previously said he would be willing to go into ‘real politics’ as an MP instead of sitting as a peer.
Earlier this year, he said he would only stand for election if then Prime Minister Mr Johnson cut taxes and returned to a traditional Tory agenda.
The Derby-born peer said he would prefer a seat in the East Midlands, though he would only run if ‘people want me to go for it’.
He told BBC Radio Derby: ‘If the party wants me to and a local party is interested in having me, then obviously I’d take that seriously.
‘Obviously Derbyshire, the East Midlands, is the kind of area that I feel I know and am interested in and love.’
He also revealed he had been in talks with Conservative associations about becoming an MP under Liz Truss.
He told House magazine: ‘I’m still making my mind up about it. If you are going to be in politics where you have a finger on the buttons of power, then you should really be elected.’
On Friday, Lord Frost accused Harry and Meghan of using their Netflix series to ‘smear’ millions of Brexit voters and rubbished the suggestion that the UK’s departure from the EU triggered a racist backlash that helped to force the couple out of Britain.
He said the Sussexes’ ‘self-indulgent’ documentary ‘resurrects the tired old criticism that our decision to leave the EU was driven by racism – and even asserts that such attitudes worsened pressures on their marriage’.