Can Boris Johnson help save Tories' Red Wall seats - vote here and have your say
Former prime minister Boris Johnson is heavily touted to campaign for the panicking Tories in Red Wall seats in a bid to ‘take the fight to Keir Starmer’ - but is it too little too late?
The rumoured move is seen by many as a desperate attempt by Rishi Sunak to avoid electoral wipeout, with a government source telling The Times: "Sunak will of course be front and centre but he [Johnson] always wanted to take the fight to Starmer. Just as he has always supported the Conservative Party he will do so now.”
Following former deputy Conservative Party leader Lee Anderson's defection to Reform UK, reports swiftly emerged that Mr Johnson could be deployed to help the Conservatives cling on in the North and the Midlands. Mr Anderson, the MP for Ashfield, joined the Nigel Farage-linked outfit on Monday after losing the Tory whip for refusing to apologise after claiming Islamists had 'control' of London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
His departure dealt a significant blow to the Prime Minister, who is struggling to narrow Labour's lead in the polls as the clock ticks down on this parliamentary term. Meanwhile, within Tory circles there has been some clamour for Mr Johnson to rejoin the political fray.
Since their dramatic falling-out, relations between Johnson and Sunak appear to have thawed. The pair worked closely together during the pandemic, when Sunak served as Chancellor. However, Sunak's sudden resignation in July 2022, closely followed by Health Secretary Sajid Javid, dealt a severe blow to Johnson's authority.
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In the aftermath, Johnson was compelled to announce his own resignation as PM just days later. Some of his supporters still attribute his downfall to Sunak's actions.
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Nadine Dorries, a former Tory minister and a vocal critic of Mr Sunak, accused Downing Street of trying to see off further defections to Reform UK with the reports about Mr Johnson's involvement in campaigning. She said: "This story has been panic placed by No10 - probably by [Tory campaign chief] Isaac Levido in a desperate attempt to halt any further defections to Reform. There’s no thawing of relations, no plans to campaign. Sunak has not spoken to Johnson for over a year."
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said he would always support the Tories. The spokesman said: “Boris Johnson’s focus at the moment is writing and speaking and he is very productively engaged on that. His position has been consistently in support of the Conservative Party for his entire political life and that will remain so.”
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