Red Wall voters rage over Boris Johnson’s ouster
It comes as Downing Street said outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not step aside to allow Dominic Raab to become interim prime minister. There have been calls from some conservatives to install Mr Raab as interim prime minister until there is a permanent successor to run the country and the conservative party.
Lord Frost, Johnson’s chief negotiator for leaving the EU, said a successful leader must protect Brexit in order to get the Tories on track.
He said: “There can be no return to the EU Customs Union or the Single Market, while the [Northern Ireland] The issue of the protocol needs to be resolved in order to get Northern Ireland firm, sustainable and fully within the UK.
“There must also be a radical change in inherited EU law. No candidate who is not fully committed to Britain’s independent future can be party leader today.”
Writing in The Telegraph, Lord Frost also called on the new leader to reverse planned and already existing tax hikes.
Lord Frost has set his red lines for the next Tory leader (Image: Getty)
Then the UK’s chief negotiator, David Frost, watches as Boris Johnson signs the EU-UK trade deal (Image: PA)
He also called for the discarding of “pointless projects” such as HS2, an energy policy to ensure security of supply and a reconsideration of the Online Safety Bill.
On immigration, he said: “[W]We need to control immigration, and that means reducing the number. Rwanda’s plan must be implemented, if necessary by deviating from parts of the European Convention on Human Rights.”
His latest demand is to “get a good grip” on the “pernicious politics of identity and group rights” and curb the “weirder excesses of the trans movement”.
Lord Frost said: “Boris Johnson faced something new. His failure to deliver it in the end – with the very important exception of Brexit – doesn’t make that project wrong.
Liz Truss leaves number 10 after a meeting of ministers (Image: Getty)
Rishi Sunak listens as Prime Minister Boris Johnson addresses his cabinet (Image: Getty)
“The correct answer to the party’s problems is not to go back to the pre-2016 era of Cameron-Osborne-Cleggism and that particular mix of economic and social liberalism, globalization and the erosion of the nation-state.”
He added that this might feel nice to many, but it wouldn’t sideline Tory supporters and it won’t win the party an election.
Lord Frost’s comments came as poll guru Sir John Curtice warned that the next Tory leader would face a significant challenge with the party now associated with chaos and ineffective government.
He told the same publication: “The electoral challenge for the next Conservative leader will be a significant one. The challenge for a new leader will be to convince voters that they not only have a new Prime Minister, but a Conservative party in which they can have faith again.”
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The electoral process of the Tory leaders (Image: Express)
So far, only two MPs have officially declared their intention to run for leadership – Suella Braverman and Tom Tugendhat.
More than a dozen are believed to be seriously interested in running, with former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Secretary of State Liz Truss and Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace being regarded by some as frontrunners.
Jeremy Hunt will also most likely announce his bid to become the next Conservative leader in the coming days.
A source close to the high-ranking Tory MP, who ran for leadership in 2019, said he was “almost confident” to enter the contest to replace Mr Johnson.
Jeremy Hunt MP arrives at the entrance to the carriage gate in front of the Houses of Parliament (Image: Getty)
The source said: “For months he has been pressured by colleagues on all wings of the party.”
They also claimed that Mr Hunt was getting “increasing support” from within the party.
Mr Sunak is expected to present himself as a “serious candidate for some serious time” in the leadership race.
The Times reported Friday that Sunak will claim that only he can save the Conservative Party’s “brand” and that he has the experience to deal with Britain’s economic crisis.
Meanwhile, opponents of Johnson continue to demand that he leave office before a replacement is found.
Johnson told his cabinet team of top ministers that he would not make major changes of course that would tie the hands of his successor.
Number 10 has confirmed an interior ministry agreement to send migrants to the remnants of Rwanda, suggesting attempts could be made to get the first deportation flight off the ground again before a legal charge against the policy is launched on July 19 submitted.
Asked if the government would go ahead with the plan, even in the face of lawsuits, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “This is a pre-agreed government policy.
“The convention does not prevent or preclude the government from pursuing those policies and that includes defending cases in court as required.”
The spokesman said it is possible that flights carrying asylum seekers to the East African country could depart before a judicial review.