Boris Johnson arrives back in UK to attempt rapid political comeback
By: Mary L.
Boris Johnson returned to Britain on Saturday to take center stage in the continuing chaos within his Conservative Party – teasing a once-unthinkable second bid for the job of prime minister, just weeks after his colleagues booted him from the post.
The thatch-haired politician, bearing a gray backpack on his shoulders after his apparently hurried departure from a Caribbean vacation, waved to reporters as he arrived at London’s Gatwick Airport and stepped into a gray van.
Inside the terminal, travelers crowded the windows to catch a glimpse of Johnson and his family, the BBC reported – even though the divisive former PM had been booed by some of his fellow passengers en route, according to a Sky News reporter who shared the flight.
Johnson is one of three potential candidates to replace Prime Minister Liz Truss, who abruptly resigned Thursday after a tumultuous 44 days in power, making her the nation’s shortest-serving leader in history.
But he has not yet formally announced his candidacy – and neither has the apparent front-runner, former finance minister Rishi Sunak, who lost out to Truss in the fight to become Johnson’s replacement.
Penny Mordaunt, who served as the UK’s first female minister of defense, has officially thrown her hat in the ring, releasing a social-media campaign ad early Saturday – the only candidate so far to do so.
But behind the scenes, all three had embarked on a frantic weekend effort to recruit support from the 357 Tory members of Parliament whose votes will winnow down the candidates in the first round of the party leadership election process.
A would-be PM must secure nominations from at least 100 Conservative lawmakers by Monday morning to secure a spot on the ballot. Sunak, with the public endorsement of 114 MPs, became the first to reach that magic number Saturday.
Mordaunt had 22 members in her corner – and while Johnson’s camp told reporters that he had more than 100 backers, only 50 MPs have made their support public, according to a BBC tally.
“Boris is someone with a proven track record who delivered Brexit,” said MP Andrew Stephenson, adding that “lots” of his colleagues “now feel they were rash to encourage him to resign in the summer. Now we need him back.”
But Sunak supporters dismissed the Johnson team’s claim – calling it “hogwash,” “absolute garbage,” and an attempt to conjure up a sense of inevitability.
The new prime minister could be declared as soon as Monday evening, if only one candidate receives more than 100 nominations. If multiple candidates have sufficient support, the choice will be put to party members throughout the country in an online poll that will close Friday – a process that could favor the telegenic BoJo.
But the prospect of his return threatens to fracture the Conservative Party, which is deeply divided after cycling through four prime ministers in six years.
Some Tories have threatened to resign from the party and sit in the House of Commons as independents if Johnson returns to the post, The Sun reported.
One of them, MP Andrew Bridgen, warned that Conservatives are developing a “personality cult” around the Johnson, while former party leader William Hague said Friday that Johnson’s return would lead to a Tory “death spiral.”
Sunak quit as Johnson’s finance minister in July. Meanwhile, Johnson remains under investigation by Parliament’s Privileges Committee in the wake of a scandal over lockdown-breaking parties at 10 Downing Street. Ministers are expected to resign if they are found to have lied to their parliamentary colleagues.
