‘I’ll be back’: Bullish Boris ‘is telling aides that he thinks he’ll be PM again within the next year’ after teasing MPs: ‘Mission largely accomplished… for now’
- Boris Johnson reportedly thinks he will return as the Prime Minister next year
- The scandal-ridden Prime Minister resigned less than three weeks ago on July 7
- Johnson said he would step down after 57 ministers resigned in just 48 hours
- He is already saying he will return next year, former aide Tim Montgomerie said
Boris Johnson reportedly thinks he will return as Prime Minister next year even though he only resigned less than three weeks ago.
The PM announced he would step down on July 7 after 57 ministers resigned from the Government in just 48 hours following the Chris Pincher scandal.
However, he has been privately saying he will make a comeback to Downing Street as soon as next year, according to his former aide Tim Montgomerie.
Mr Montgomerie, who became critical of Mr Johnson after he left his employment around the end of 2019, said: ‘Boris is telling aides that he’ll be PM again within a year.’
It is not the first time rumours of a second Mr Johnson premiership have surfaced.
He bowed out of his final Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) last Wednesday, telling MPs: ‘Hasta la vista, baby’.
His very final words were an apparent reference to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s catchphrase from the film Terminator, which is also famous for the line ‘I’ll be back’.
Scandal-ridden Boris Johnson announced he would step down on July 7 after 57 ministers resigned from the Government in just 48 hours
Boris Johnson bowed out of his final PMQs (pictured) last Wednesday, telling MPs: ‘Hasta la vista, baby’. His very final words were an apparent reference to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s catchphrase from the film Terminator, which is also famous for the line ‘I’ll be back’
Boris Johnson has been privately saying he will make a comeback to Downing Street as soon as next year, according to his former aide Tim Montgomerie
Asked after his comments on Wednesday if Mr Johnson was already planning a political comeback – given his concluding remarks at PMQs – the PM’s press secretary said: ‘That was his way of saying farewell to his colleagues.’
A little more than a fortnight ago Mr Johnson told the nation: ‘It is now clearly the will of the parliamentary Conservative party that there should be a new leader of that party, and therefore a new Prime Minister.
‘The reason I have fought so hard for the last few days to continue to deliver [our] mandate in person was not just because I wanted to do so but because I felt it was my job, my duty, my obligation to you to continue to do what we promised in 2019.’
He added: ‘As we’ve seen at Westminster, the herd is powerful and when the herd moves, it moves.’
After his final PMQs the outgoing Prime Minister was given a standing ovation by Tory MPs – although not from the Labour benches or from his predecessor Theresa May.
Mr Johnson told the Commons that his last three years as PM had been ‘the greatest privilege of my life’ as he listed his achievements in office, such as Brexit and British support for Ukraine against Russia’s brutal invasion.
With MPs heading away from Westminster for their summer break from tomorrow, Wednesday’s PMQs was the last before Boris Johnson is replaced as Tory leader
Sir Keir Starmer was branded ‘a great pointless human bollard’ by the PM in their final clashes at PMQs
The departing Mr Johnson was given a standing ovation by Tory MPs – but not from the Labour benches or his predecessor Theresa May
‘It’s true that I helped to get the biggest Tory majority for 40 years and a huge realignment in UK politics,’ he said.
‘We transformed our democracy and restored our national independence.
‘I’ve helped to get this country through a pandemic and help save another country from barbarism, and frankly that’s enough to be going on with.’
Suggestions Mr Johnson could return as PM came after 7,600 Conservative Party members demanded a vote on whether Boris Johnson remains leader.
They signed a petition to party co-chairman Andrew Stephenson asking for the Prime Minister to be put on the run-off ballot with Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss.
The appeal accused the Tory MPs who removed him of having ‘vested interest reasons and grievances to settle’.
The people behind the petition threatened to apply for an injunction on the Tory leadership election if the request was refused.
A petition signed by 7,600 Tory members accuses the Tory MPs who removed Boris Johnson (pictured) of having ‘vested interest reasons and grievances to settle’
Rishi Sunak is in contention against Liz Truss to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and therefore Prime Minister
The petition to Mr Stephenson said: ‘Back in 2019, Boris Johnson was elected by the membership to be our new leader.
‘Now that choice has been changed without referral to the people that elected him.
‘You cannot disenfranchise the membership from the whole process from the beginning as this is open to abuse by the parliamentary party who may have vested interest reasons and grievances to settle against our leader.’
It added: ‘Morale amongst the membership is low and there is anger towards the parliamentary party.
‘I demand Boris Johnson be added to the ballot as an option for the members to vote upon in the forthcoming election.’
The two men leading the petition are Lord Cruddas, a self-made billionaire and major donor to the party, and David Campbell-Bannerman, a former MEP.
They claimed section 17 of the party’s constitution enables the board to add Mr Johnson’s name to the ballot.
The party’s constitution says: ‘The board shall have power to do anything which in its opinion relates to the management and administration of the party’.
However the same document also rules that ‘a Leader resigning from the Leadership of the Party is not eligible for re-nomination in the consequent Leadership election’.
The two men leading the petition are former MEP David Campbell-Bannerman (left) and Lord Cruddas, a self-made billionaire and major donor to the Conservative party (right)
Tory party members signed a petition to Conservative co-chair Andrew Stephenson (pictured) asking for Boris Johnson to be put on the run-off ballot with Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss
Mr Johnson ally Michael Fabricant was the first MP to support the ‘Bring Back Boris’ campaign.
‘If I thought Boris were keen – despite the treachery of his ministers – to carry on, I would support Peter Cruddas’s campaign in the blink of an eye,’ he told The Telegraph.
Another Cabinet minister remaining loyal to Mr Johnson told the same paper:
One Cabinet minister loyal to Mr Johnson was also supportive, saying: ‘There is complete and utter despair and disbelief at what has happened.
‘It is no wonder that the grassroots members feel their voices have been cancelled out by a minority in the Parliamentary party’.
If further MPs publicly support the campaign to restore Mr Johnson as Prime Minister it could torpedo the ongoing battle for Conservative leadership between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss.
However, Tory officials warned the campaign could lead to Sunak taking the reins.
Former minister Steve Baker, who is backing Liz Truss for leader, said the current Government would collapse if the campaign won.
He said: ‘Whether we like it or not, Boris can only form a government because he is stepping down. If members press on with this pro-Boris plan, they just get Rishi.’
Conservative Party officials told the Daily Mail members who write Mr Johnson’s name on to their voting slips will have the ballots classed as ‘spoiled’.
A Tory source said this could hand a win to PM hopeful and former Chancellor Sunak.
MailOnline has contacted Downing Street for comment.
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