Comeback for Johnson ‘just not realistic’, says Rees-Mogg

BORIS JOHNSON will not stage a comeback and have a second stint of being prime minister as “life just isn’t like that”, Jacob Rees-Mogg has said.

The minister for Brexit opportunities and government efficiency, who has been one of the Prime Minister’s staunchest supporters, said that it was not “realistic” to think that Mr Johnson could make a return to Downing Street.

Mr Johnson was forced to announce that he would be standing down after ministers resigned en masse from his Government last month.

However, he has repeatedly dropped hints that he could attempt a return.

Addressing MPs at what he described as “probably … certainly” his last Prime Minister’s Questions last month, he said that his “mission” had been “largely accomplished – for now”.

Appearing on GB News yesterday, Mr Rees-Mogg was asked whether Mr Johnson wanted to make a comeback.

“Nobody’s come back having lost the leadership of the party since Gladstone,” Mr Rees-Mogg replied. “And I just don’t think in modern politics, the chance of coming back is realistic.

“Lots of people think they’re going to be called back by a grateful nation which is why Harold Macmillan waited 20 years before accepting his peerage … Life just isn’t like that.”

In the interview, Mr Rees-Mogg claimed that Mr Johnson’s downfall was partly the result of anti-Brexit campaigners – even though several Brexiteer MPs, such as Steve Baker, called for his resignation.

He said: “There’s a lot of people who resent the fact we left the [EU]. [To] bring down the standard bearer of Brexit was a triumph for them.”

Mr Rees-Mogg also cast doubt on the fairness of the investigation being carried out by the privileges committee into whether Mr Johnson misled Parliament over lockdown breaking parties.

The cross-party committee has a Tory majority, but its Labour chairman, Harriet Harman, has come under scrutiny for critical tweets she previously made about partygate.

“I think it’s quite extraordinary that Harriet Harman, who I think is a very distinguished political figure, has not recused herself from it,” he said.

“I do not believe you can have a fair judgment, when the chairman of the committee has already judged the matter. And I think she should stand down.

“I’m astonished that she accepted it, because she is, if I may put it this way, a good socialist.”

He added: “She’s admired across parties. And I think she’s doing genuine damage to her reputation by putting herself in this position.”

Asked whether Mr Johnson was right to hire Dominic Cummings, he said the adviser had been a “very important part of the referendum campaign”.

“He seems to be good at understanding the mood of the British people and campaigning on it, and it seemed that his eccentricities were a price worth paying for his genius,” he said.

“In the end, it turned out that his eccentricity was absurd and self-serving and that he thought he was Prime Minister, and that was never going to work,” he said.