Boris is like a coiled black mamba, ready to strike,” says an ally of the former prime minister. 'He looks David Cameron walking happily across the world stage, while he is in exile and the party's ratings continue to decline. They brought back the wrong ex-prime minister.”
But Boris Johnson is stuck and the mamba remains coiled – at least for now.
He loves home life in his moated castle, deep in the Oxfordshire countryside, with his wife Carrie and their three children, and sees his post-Downing Street earnings approaching the £8 million mark. His column in yesterday's Daily Mail was devoted to the plight of Donny the duckling – a world away from the poisonous snakes of Westminster.
For now, Boris Johnson is enjoying home life with his wife Carrie. They were pictured on a ski trip last month
Johnson supporters say local election results showed a 'Boris bounce' in the form of a victory for Tory mayor Ben Houchen on Teesside after Johnson made a 'targeted' intervention on social media for him.
Johnson viewed the move as an act of 'personal loyalty' as he had been 'supportive' during his premiership.
It has even prompted One Nation MPs on the left of the party to call for Johnson's help in their constituencies. One moderate said: 'It is powerful that Boris is urging people not to divide the vote by voting for reform. For others the reaction is: “He would say that, wouldn't he”. But Boris can sell it.'
While Johnson hasn't quite done that ruled out a return to parliament and the party leadership before the electionstime is quickly running out for such a dramatic move.
His most likely course of action will be to stand by and wait until Sir Keir Starmer has entered Downing Street – and discovered how difficult it is to exercise power with finances so tight.
After trying to steady the ship for a few years, an interim Tory leader, such as former Home Secretary Priti Patel, was able to swoop in and save the party.
“Then he would finally have solved his financial problems,” says the ally.
“He would be a better prime minister if he stopped thinking about that.” Johnson turns 60 next month; certainly no longer in the first flush, but seventeen years younger than his hero Winston Churchill when he became Prime Minister for the second time.
However, with the latest YouGov poll putting the party at 18 per cent, just 3 per cent more than Nigel Farage's group of Reform UK renegades, there is a danger that there will be no party left for him. pipe.
This dire figure could become even lower if, as many expect, Farage personally throws his hat into the election ring by standing in Clacton, where local opinion polls suggest he could finally win a seat in Parliament.
Johnson's attention is therefore focused on how he can strengthen the Conservatives' election performance without turning it into a hollow-sounding personal statement of support from Rishi Sunak.
His friends say it is 'about helping the party – and not Rishi'. One said: 'Sunak still hasn't picked up the phone to ask for help. So it will be about defending the party's values against Labour. He wants to fire bullets at Starmer, but that hasn't happened given Sunak's ammunition.' A source in the anti-Rishi camp says that 'it is difficult for Boris to commit to Rishi as he texts rebel MPs to say 'I agree with every word you have said' when they publicly criticize the Prime Minister'.
An ally added: 'All party leaders thought it was a coup that brought Cameron back as foreign secretary, but that was never going to change the course. And that has proven to be the case.'
The prime minister has apparently been given breathing space over his embattled leadership by a “truce” with the rebels who had been plotting to overthrow him since his resignation of Suella Braverman as home secretary in November. The conspirators, who sat in posh London eateries such as J Sheekey and Giovanni's to set up a notorious 'grid of s***' with which to attack the government, claim they had admitted defeat and 'went to the pub gone' – especially as none of the proposed alternative leaders, such as Business Minister Kemi Badenoch, were likely to improve the polls.
Tory mayor Ben Houchen celebrates victory on Teesside on Friday, in what Johnson allies say was part of a 'Boris Bounce'
David Cameron visited Lviv, Ukraine yesterday. “All party leaders thought it was a coup that brought Cameron back as foreign secretary, but that was never going to be decisive,” said a Boris ally.
The 'truce' was fittingly sealed in a Soho bar favored by Westminster politicians: at the Arts Theater Club, which specializes in music that topped the charts under Margaret Thatcher, a leading Tory rebel told a senior adviser No. 10 that the war had started. passed by and offered an olive branch. The conspirator, an associate of Ms. Braverman, said: “You came for us. We had no choice,” before adding, “But you're right. It can't go on like this.'
No. 10 remains cautious and suspects that this could all be part of the game. Certainly Sunak's senior advisers have not been relaxed about the prospect of MPs triggering a vote of confidence in the Prime Minister: Backbenchers have found that their concerns about proposed new legislation have been unexpectedly taken seriously, which they have linked to fears that they would send letters in confidence to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the Backbench 1922 Committee.
Potential leadership rivals are not particularly eager to replace him. Penny Mordaunt, leader of the Allies of Commons, has highlighted private polling in her constituency showing she will retain her seat at the election, in a bid to refute the argument that Mrs Mordaunt must move now if she wants any chance to have.
Referring to tomorrow's commemoration of Mordaunt's starring role in the king's coronation, one ally said she wants to be remembered for her ceremonial sword, not a dagger in Sunak's back: 'She knows she will never be leader when people see that she gives him a knife.'
Penny Mordaunt, leader of the Allies of Commons, has highlighted private polling in her constituency showing she will retain her seat at the election.
Rishi Sunak with Ben Houchen's wife Rachel and baby Hannah after the Tories victory on Teesside
MPs say that if, as now seems most likely, Sunak leads the party's slow march to electoral death in the autumn, he should at least try to throw more policy 'red meat' at Tory members, such as abolishing inheritance taxes.
MPs are also grumbling about the Prime Minister's approach to tax cuts, with even the Chancellor privately admitting that National Insurance cuts have not been rewarded. A source said: “Every time Rishi gives a speech, he talks about National Insurance. It just doesn't land.'
Last week, Michael Gove, whose seat of Surrey is vulnerable according to the polls, told Tory donors at a fundraising lunch to rally around the Prime Minister, saying: 'It's not lost until it's lost.'
One MP said: 'All we have left is for Sunak to shake up the Cabinet. But the problem is that there isn't even consensus about who he should include in this.'
Another added: “If Boris comes back for the election, he could ending with him, Cameron and a few other famous names led the attack, while poor Rishi remained in the back room. That won't win the elections, but it can prevent total destruction.'
A spokesman for Johnson said: 'Boris' priority is to campaign for Ukrainian victory and lasting peace.
'That's what he's focused on. He also writes a book and speaks.'
A source added: “Any discussion about leadership plans, plans and strategies has not been approved by him. He voted Conservative in Thursday's election.'