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Speculation over Johnson-Sunak deal as Tory frontrunners yet to declare

Boris Johnson was lagging behind his former chancellor in support from MPs as Rishi Sunak gained a valuable ally in Kemi Badenoch.

Amy Gibbons
Sunday 23 October 2022 07:19 BST
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak were said to be locked in talks late into the evening as speculation mounted over whether the pair could strike a deal to lay the foundations for a unified Conservative government (Leon Neal/PA)
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak were said to be locked in talks late into the evening as speculation mounted over whether the pair could strike a deal to lay the foundations for a unified Conservative government (Leon Neal/PA) (PA Wire)

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Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak were said to be locked in talks late into the evening as speculation mounted over whether the pair could strike a deal to lay the foundations for a unified Conservative government.

Mr Johnson was lagging behind his former chancellor in public support from MPs as Mr Sunak gained a valuable ally in Kemi Badenoch on Saturday, with backers of the ex-PM challenged over claims he had reached the number required to secure a spot on the Tory ballot paper.

Sir James Duddridge, a friend of Mr Johnson, said the former prime minister had the support of the 100 MPs required to reserve his place in the vote.

But Sunak supporter Richard Holden cast doubt on this suggestion, arguing that the equivalent number of public declarations had not been made ā€œbecause they donā€™t existā€.

As the day drew to a close, neither Mr Johnson nor Mr Sunak had declared their candidacy, with reports suggesting the pair held talks in the evening to agree on a joint ticket.

In a blow to Mr Johnsonā€™s campaign should he decide to seek a second stint in Downing Street, International Trade Secretary and former leadership contender Ms Badenoch threw her weight behind the ex-chancellor, insisting it was not the time for ā€œnostalgia for the cavalier elan of 2019ā€.

She admitted she had ā€œon occasionā€ been a member of ā€œthe Boris Johnson fan clubā€, but she said the Tories are not ā€œorganising a popularity contestā€, and stressed the party is ā€œnot a vehicle for any one individualā€™s personal ambitionsā€.

Mr Johnson has returned to the UK to plot a second run for the top job, in a move that has divided opinion among Conservative MPs including his former allies.

He arrived at Gatwick Airport on Saturday morning with his family after breaking off from a holiday in the Dominican Republic following Liz Trussā€™s dramatic resignation on Thursday.

Meanwhile, an ally of former home secretary Suella Braverman told the PA news agency she had been personally ā€œheavily courtedā€ by both Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak and was likely to decide who to back for the Tory leadership on Sunday.

Despite being the only candidate to declare so far, Cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt is far behind her potential rivals on public support from MPs, with just 21 to Mr Johnsonā€™s 44 and Mr Sunakā€™s 113, according to a PA tally.

Setting out her plan to ā€œunite the party and the countryā€ in the Express, she warned the Tories had ā€œlet ourselves become distracted by internal disputesā€.

Ms Mordaunt used her pitch to stress the need to ā€œmake Brexit workā€, ā€œfocus on the potential of all our citizensā€ and ā€œdefend our Union and its territorial integrityā€, pledging her support for reforming the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol.

She insisted she is not seeking the top job for an ā€œeasy rideā€, and vowed to build a government which ā€œdraws from all our best talentā€.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Ms Badenoch said her party must remind people that ā€œConservatives care about the country, not ourselvesā€.

The International Trade Secretary suggested Mr Sunak would bring a ā€œdisciplined approachā€ to Government, citing his ā€œfiscal conservativismā€ and stressing that ā€œright now, being able to say no is what we needā€.

She said everyone in the party will need to make ā€œsacrificesā€ to prove to people the Tories can ā€œuniteā€.

For her, this means refraining from a second leadership bid, she said, while some will have to forsake a job in government under their preferred candidate ā€œso that others can be brought into the tentā€.

Mr Johnsonā€™s potential return has divided opinion even among his allies in the parliamentary party, including his former deputy prime minister and foreign secretary Dominic Raab.

Mr Raab said ā€œwe cannot go backwardsā€ and pointed out the ex-PM faces an investigation into his actions over partygate.

He backed Mr Sunak, saying he was ā€œvery confidentā€ the former chancellor would stand.

Moments after Mr Johnson landed back in the UK on Saturday, ex-home secretary Priti Patel said he had her support ā€“ but his potential bid suffered a setback as former close allies Steve Barclay and Lord Frost urged colleagues to back Mr Sunak.

Mr Johnsonā€™s father Stanley predicted that his son would put his name forward and beat Mr Sunak in a head-to-head contest.

The former PM has so far won the support of six Cabinet ministers: Ben Wallace, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Simon Clarke, Chris Heaton-Harris, Alok Sharma and Anne-Marie Trevelyan.

But his public endorsements fell far short of those for Mr Sunak.

Another supporter of the ex-PM, ex-culture secretary Nadine Dorries, said in a contest between Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak ā€œonly Boris is a proven winnerā€, adding that if the former chancellor was instead chosen, ā€œwe would enter unchartered and potentially dangerous watersā€.

Writing in The Mail on Sunday, Ms Dorries added: ā€œAny Tory MP who votes for Rishi Sunak tomorrow will be taking a risk with the future of the party.

ā€œIf he is chosen, power would be transferred out of the hands of the people who exercised their choice at the ballot box less than three years ago and placed into their own very privileged and already powerful hands.

ā€œThat would be an untenable and undemocratic position for us to be in. If that happens, I have no idea how we would be able to look voters in the eye and deny them a General Election that Labour is screaming out forā€¦

ā€œA Tory Party led into the next Election by anyone other than Boris Johnson would mean the country would be looking into the face of a Socialist government.ā€

In the same newspaper, the former Brexit secretary and Sunak-backer David Davis said the ā€œroot of manyā€ of the Toriesā€™ problems was that the last two prime ministers had chosen Cabinets ā€œalmost exclusively from a narrow group of cronies they thought they could dominateā€.

Tory MPs will vote on Monday, and two candidates will be put forward to the party membership unless one pulls out, with a result being announced on Friday.

Candidates have until 2pm on Monday to secure the 100 nominations, limiting the ballot to a maximum of three candidates.

Supporters of Mr Johnson believe that if he can make it to the last two, he will win in the final online ballot of party activists with whom he remains hugely popular.

Some MPs have warned they would resign the Tory whip and sit in the Commons as independents if Mr Johnson returned to Downing Street.

Meanwhile, Conservative Party chairman Sir Jake Berry joined the Business Secretary and Johnson-supporter Mr Rees-Mogg in calling for the vote to be decided by members rather than MPs.

The Tory chairman told the Telegraph the partyā€™s future was in the grip of an ā€œexistential crisisā€ and if the Tories believed in democracy, ā€œmembers cannot be denied a say on who the next leader of the party isā€.

He added: ā€œWe have seen two Prime Ministers in a row effectively removed from office by MPs despite the fact that they have won the membership.

ā€œI fear that it might be a point where members think ā€˜what is really the point of being a member of the Conservative partyā€™.

ā€œPolitics is not delivered in this country by 650 MPs sat in Parliament; it is delivered by thousands of Conservative councillors up and down the country who deliver elections for the party.ā€

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