Boris Johnson‘s allies are trying to convince the former prime minister to make a bombshell return as Tory leader, it has been revealed.
Details of a plot to reinstall the ex-premier to the political frontline have emerged as pressure piles on current party leader Kemi Badenoch.
She suffered devastating local election results at the start of this month, when the Conservatives lost more than 600 councillors and all of the councils they controlled.
Mrs Badenoch, who has worried some of her MPs with her performances at PMQs, has since seen a YouGov poll show her party are now a humiliating fourth in the polls.
The survey found the Tories trailing far behind Reform UK and Labour, while even being overtaken by the Liberal Democrats.
Mrs Badenoch was only elected Conservative leader in November when she fought off rival Robert Jenrick to replace Rishi Sunak.
This means, under the party’s rules, she cannot face a formal confidence vote among Tory MPs until 2 November this year.
But it has been reported that some Conservatives, who want to move faster to bring in a new leader, are considering alternative options to oust Mrs Badenoch.
Boris Johnson ‘s allies are trying to convince the former prime minister to make a bombshell return as Tory leader, it has been revealed
Details of a plot to reinstall the ex-premier to the political frontline have emerged as pressure piles on current party leader Kemi Badenoch
Since leaving Downing Street in 2022, Mr Johnson – pictured during the 2019 general election campaign – has continued to make interventions on issues such as Ukraine and Brexit
Mrs Badenoch attempted to play down the prospect of a political return by Mr Johnson in a TV interview this morning, telling GB News: ‘So, I love Boris.
‘He sends me lots of messages, gives me lots of advice, like Iain Duncan Smith, like David Cameron.
‘I have great people who have been in this situation before, who dealt with difficult times. So it’s up to him what he wants to do.
‘I have to focus on my job, which is making sure that Keir Starmer does not do more than the damage he’s doing right now.
‘We have to get him out in four years time, otherwise there’s not going to be a country left I’m afraid.’
Since leaving Downing Street in 2022, Mr Johnson – who has welcomed his fourth child with wife Carrie – has continued to make significant interventions on issues such as the Ukraine war and Brexit.
A senior Tory told The Sun on Sunday: ‘Some of the old gang around Boris Johnson are back texting and in talks to get him to return.
‘The feeling is he is the only man who can take on Nigel Farage and win. They want to bring back Boris.’
Another Conservative said: ‘Team Boris are talking again. There are even some people in Tory HQ who are moonlighting on Project Boris.’
Earlier this month, a More in Common poll found Mr Johnson is the only potential party leader under which the Tories poll higher that Mr Farage’s Reform.
According to the Sunday Times, some supporters of Mr Johnson – who is no longer an MP – believe Tory rules could be altered to allow him to lead the party from outside Parliament until the next general election.
The newspaper also reported on different options being considered by those who want to move against Mrs Badenoch before November.
These include a confidence vote among grassroots Tory members at the party’s national convention to shame Mrs Badenoch into resigning; a rule change to allow MPs to force a confidence vote before November; an open letter to the media by more than half the MPs calling for Badenoch to go; or mass resignations by members of the shadow cabinet.
Guto Harri, who was Mr Johnson’s former director of communications, told Times Radio yesterday: ‘I think we inevitably are heading for another leadership challenge.
‘And the danger there is that the party makes the wrong decision again and chooses somebody like Robert Jenrick, who’s a pale imitation of what Kemi Badenoch is trying to be a pale imitation of, which is Nigel Farage and Reform.
‘If we had a directly-elected presidency, and you could appeal to people over the heads of the Conservative Party, frankly, then Boris would be plotting a return.’
But Lord Gove, the former Cabinet minister, warned against ditching Mrs Badenoch as Tory leader.
He said: ‘The people who are anxious to get rid of Kemi don’t themselves have a convincing answer of what the Conservative Party should do.
‘And I actually think that if the Conservative Party were to do that, it would confirm even further a reputation in people’s minds, that we were only interested in ourselves, and not actually interested in what was good for the whole country.’
