[ad_1]
Boris Johnson has made a bold attempt to return to Downing Street despite critics warning he risks throwing the Conservative Party into new turmoil over the impending parliamentary inquiry into the Partygate scandal. supported by
As the former prime minister rushed back from a Caribbean vacation to garner support from parliamentarians, Rishi Sunak maintained his lead and won alongside nearly 80 publicly declared backers, including Dominic Raab and Sajid Javid. I got
But Mr Johnson has the backing of five current ministers, Ben Wallace, Simon Clarke, Jacob Rhys-Mogg, Alok Sharma and Anne-Marie Trevelyan, and former Pretty Patel. The Secretary of the Interior is believed to be considering taking a position in Mr Johnson’s favor.
Johnson’s allies boasted that Johnson would “easily” reach the threshold of 100 MPs required to appear on the ballot, claiming he would be a strong candidate to win the vote of 150,000 Tories. .
They said he was seeking a “coalition pact” with Sunak that would allow him to avoid contests where he would have to go to vote for members.
But amid reminiscences of how his leadership tore the party apart when he was at Downing Street, one of the rival leadership camps wondered if he would really reach 100.
Neither Johnson nor Snack have officially declared yet, but House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt was the first to announce that she was standing.
Critics of the former prime minister said some Conservative MPs were likely to become independent or defect to another party if he won again.
A source close to the Congressional Privileges Committee, which is investigating whether Johnson lied to Congress about partying in Downing Street and Whitehall during the Covid pandemic, said he had received a “huge amount of money.” There was material for criticism,” he said.
Another parliamentary source said the commission had gathered a vast amount of written evidence ready for public release and was preparing to obtain oral evidence within the next 10 days. You may be sitting four hours a day, three days a week, for several days. weeks to get it all done.
They argued that Johnson would be a huge distraction if he became prime minister, and public outrage over a scandal that led to him and others being fined by police for violating Covid rules during the lockdown. risked rekindling the
Tory Chief MP and foreign secretary Jesse Norman said a return to Prime Minister Johnson would be a disaster. “There are some very strong candidates for Conservative leader. But choosing Boris now, with all my advice, would be an absolutely devastating decision,” he said.
Former party leader William Haig told Times Radio that reinstating Johnson was the worst idea he had heard in his 46 years as a Conservative and would set off a ‘death spiral’ for the party. rice field.
Sunak and Mordaunt could try to force Johnson out of the contest if all three candidates each get over 100 legislators to vote for them.
Johnson has about 45 publicly declared supporters. Business Secretary Reese Mogg was among those organizing for Johnson, while Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace declined to participate in the campaign despite his popularity with Tories.
“I think he still has some questions to answer about it. [Partygate] Wallace said, adding, “He has a mandate and I think that’s an important thing for all of us to keep in mind.”
MP James Dudridge, who supports Johnson, told PA Media: he’s going to fly back He said: “I’ll be back Dudders, we’re going to do this. I’m ready for it.”
Johnson’s allies said they hoped a deal with Sunak would go through, and that he hoped to discuss it with the former prime minister.
Mr Johnson would argue that he alone has the ability to win the election. Sunak’s supporters suggested a deal would be unlikely, but said the former prime minister would be willing to talk to anyone.
Some of Johnson’s MP supporters believe it is possible to persuade a “Unification Pact” cabinet to “remove” the Privileges Committee’s investigation into Partygate. Incident.
The sitting prime minister can only dismiss the inquiry by winning a motion to stop the inquiry in the House of Commons. Alternatively, the investigation can be stopped by holding an election.
One former cabinet minister said the risk for Johnson is that “you never know where the next embarrassment will come from.” Separately from Partygate, there were questions about donor funding for the renovation of his Downing Street apartment and his failure to quickly address lobbying and sexual harassment scandals.
Some Tory MPs frowned at the former prime minister’s decision to go to the Caribbean for a two-week vacation.
He recently announced funding for two types of accommodation worth £13,500 in September and October from JCB boss Anthony Bamford and his wife Carol. The Bamford family also hosted Johnson’s wedding reception this summer, contributing over £20,000.
A further £85,320 a year was recently donated to the former Prime Minister’s office expenses from a company run by Jamie Reuben, son of David Reuben, one of the billionaire Reuben brothers’ property developers.
Sunak remains the front-runner, but the idea that Johnson could return to number 10 is starting to trickle in among the Conservative MPs who ousted him.
Senior Backbench Tory said: And with membership, I think it will be Boris. It’s true. What was helpful was the volume of emails from locals asking to bring Boris back.
“There was a fair amount of anger about how he got kicked out. As far as members go, I think he’s back in 10th place.”
[ad_2]
Source link
