Boris Johnson with Truss in the British Parliament. /
The former prime minister intends to lead the Conservatives again for “national interest”, according to the newspaper ‘The Times’
Days before Liz Truss fell as prime minister, the British conservative press was already doing their pools to see who could succeed her. And among them one name stood out: Boris Johnson. It seems unthinkable that he who was prime minister until July and lost the support of his parliamentary group could return to the front line, like a phoenix. But, as the newspaper ‘The Times’ advanced this Thursday, Johnson plans to present himself to lead the party for “national interest”. A process that will culminate on the 28th, although the need to have the endorsement of a hundred deputies, a third of the parliamentary group, complicates its entry into the competition to replace Liz Truss, according to the rules set by the 1922 Parliamentary Committee.
Its president, Graham Brady, assured that the decision to set such a high number of deputies (out of a total of 360) will serve to speed up the process to one week and ensure that only “serious candidates” make their way. Some analysts believe that the decision to set such a high number can be interpreted as an attempt to dissuade Johnson against Rishi Sunak, his former Treasury secretary, and the third candidate in discord, Penny Mordaunt, since both exceeded one hundred supports. in the ‘tory’ leadership contest held this summer.
The challenge is enormous, even for someone with the charisma of the eccentric former prime minister. Two years, in principle, from the legislative elections, the distance in the polls between Labor and Conservatives is close to 40 points. In addition, it remains to be seen whether Johnson, who is on vacation in the Caribbean, would agree to take the reins again and abandon a lucrative career as a lecturer around the world, his current occupation.
To this must be added that the conservative deputies turned their backs on him in July, when he was forced to resign. “A flock, when he moves, moves,” he said in his farewell to those who betrayed him just a few months ago. In that same speech he also opened the door for his return. And there is data to support it. A poll published this week revealed that 32% of the ‘tory’ militancy want Johnson to replace Truss, far ahead of any other candidate.
An eventual return of Johnson, in any case, throws lights and shadows. On the one hand, it is true that he led the Conservatives to a landslide electoral victory in 2019. He won the largest majority for the party since 1987, under Margaret Thatcher, and the largest number of votes since 1979.
Legacy
Brexit culminated -although it further tensed the confrontation with the European Union, especially as a result of the Northern Ireland Protocol-, his great electoral promise. Its management of the pandemic and the rapid purchase of vaccines allowed the United Kingdom to be one of the first countries to have its population immunized. And, once the war broke out in Ukraine, he was one of kyiv’s strongest supporters in Europe.
On the opposite side, the scandals that ended up knocking him down have been one of the main factors that have contributed to the current ‘tory’ discredit. Known as ‘Partygate’, Johnson’s sprees at 10 Downing Street with his collaborators while the rest of the country was confined, dealt a serious blow to the credibility and image of the British Government. We will have to see if there is a second part.