The British Conservative Party leadership race has become so debased that influential party figures considered supporting a campaign to reinstate Boris Johnson.
With the contest between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss becoming increasingly fractious, the Conservative “brand” is tarnished, insiders said, and there is a real possibility the party will lose power at Westminster.
A petition to “Bring back Boris” has attracted more than 10,000 supporters out of the estimated 160,000 members.
They want to see Mr Johnson’s name placed on the ballot alongside those of Mr Sunak and Ms Truss, although time is short with voting papers to be posted from Monday, August 1.
A large number of activists are incensed that Mr Johnson, who took them to a landslide election victory in 2019, has been ousted by Conservative MPs without giving them a voice.
Many also fear that neither Ms Truss nor Mr Sunak have the character to win over voters in the Red Wall seats of northern England that will be vital to the Tories retaining power, whereas Mr Johnson has proved his ability to win elections.
Lord Peter Cruddas, former party treasurer, claimed that during a lunch with Mr Johnson on Friday, the departing prime minister told him he wanted “to fight the next general election as leader of the party”.
Lord Cruddas told The Daily Telegraph they had discussed a “bring back Boris” campaign that would call for a poll of the membership to confirm whether they accepted Mr Johnson’s resignation.
“He wants to carry on and he believes that, with the membership behind him, he can,” Lord Cruddas said.
But the idea has been met with incredulity among some Tory party members.
Kent Conservative councillor Piers Montague told The National that it was a spurious attempt by “loyalists” some of whom were “swivel-eyed loons” who would still “vote for Mr Johnson if he killed kittens in the street”.
Some senior party figures said that Mr Johnson might undermine his successor from the back benches to pave the way to a comeback.
“He is going to be [Edward] Heath with jokes added in, and [Margaret] Thatcher with consistency taken out, all rolled into a bundle of resentment, denial, attention-seeking and attempted vindication that will be a permanent nightmare for the new prime minister,” former Conservative leader William Hague wrote in The Times, referring to former prime ministers.
He said that it was “already apparent” that Mr Johnson wanted revenge on Mr Sunak, whose resignation as chancellor precipitated his downfall.
Robert Buckland, the Welsh secretary, said Mr Johnson’s “time in office is coming to an end” leading to a “a new chapter for him and a new chapter for the Conservative Party”.
A Downing Street spokesman said Mr Johnson would leave his post in early September.
“The prime minister has resigned as party leader and set out his intention to stand down as PM when the new leader is in place.”
