It is no joke. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was forced out of office by a mass resignation of his ministers in July, plans to return to Downing Street, British media unanimously report. After the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss, Johnson could make a comeback. Candidates for the vacant party chairmanship and thus for the post of head of government can apply until Monday, 2 p.m. Johnson would have a good chance.
However, the bar is set high. Johnson would need the votes of at least 100 Conservative MPs to be nominated. Since the governing faction has 357 members, a maximum of three candidates is possible. If there are three applicants on Monday, the field will be reduced to two candidates by an exclusion vote within the parliamentary group. The last word then have the members of the Conservative Party, who can vote online until Friday. In addition to Johnson, other possible contenders are Rishi Sunak, the former Treasury Secretary who lost to Liz Truss in a playoff, and Penny Mordaunt, who came third in the party leadership campaign. Only the British Minister responsible for Parliamentary Affairs, Penny Mordaunt, has officially announced her candidacy.
When Truss resigned, Johnson was enjoying a vacation in the Caribbean. In London, on the other hand, the team with which he won the 2019 election is already working on a campaign for his return, mobilizing allies and donors. The Telegraph, in turn, knows that Johnson is luring his colleagues in the group with the promise: Only I can prevent Labor’s landslide victory.
To outsiders it must seem grotesque. Boris Johnson was the man forced to resign due to numerous scandals. But a comeback is a realistic possibility, because different laws apply within the conservative faction. You still have the power, and you don’t want to let it be taken from you, you think there.
But not all Tories think so. Pollsters say two-thirds of the public would reject the ex-prime minister. With Johnson at the helm, the Conservatives would effectively lock in an election defeat. Finally, there is the Committee of Inquiry, which is currently investigating whether Johnson lied to the House of Commons when he assured that there were no parties at Downing Street. This could result in an even more grotesque situation: not only would Johnson return as prime minister, but he might subsequently be convicted of lying and suspended from parliament. That would be the laughing stock squared.
Source: Nachrichten
