The chancellor described Johnson as a “friend” and “probably the most sweeping” prime minister of his generation.
“Boris Johnson has been a friend of mine for 30 years. If he wants to serve in the cabinet, I would definitely offer him a job,” Zahawi told LBC.
“He has probably been the most sweeping Prime Minister of his generation. If you go back to Margaret Thatcher, John Major, then Tony Blair, and of course Gordon Brown and then David Cameron and Theresa May and now Boris Johnson, he delivered Brexit he delivered us by means of [the pandemic]†
Zahawi is one of eight remaining Tory leadership candidates battling it out to reach the 30 MPs threshold required in the first knockout round of Wednesday’s Tory leadership match.
He became chancellor last week when Rishi Sunak stepped down because he had lost faith in Johnson’s leadership.
On Wednesday, he insisted that he “put the country first” when, just 24 hours after his promotion, he publicly urged the prime minister to step down.
Speaking to Radio 4’s Today programme, he said the number of ministerial resignations convinced him that “we could realistically not have a functioning government”.
“I thought all I could do was write him a letter” [Mr Johnson] because I had personally visited him. I think he did the right thing,” said the Stratford-on-Avon MP.
“I think the country comes first.”