Boris Johnson ‘most likely to keep Starmer at bay’ says expert
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Boris Johnson has been hailed as the “most likely to keep Starmer at bay” in the next general election as MPs cast their votes for the leadership contest ahead of Monday’s announcement. As it stands, Rishi Sunak, the frontrunner candidate to become the next leader of the party, looks set to breach the 100 MP threshold, with Mr Johnson lagging behind but in a clear second place. Political commentator Neil Wallis suggested the former prime minister was a “great vote winner and a clever politician” but questioned whether he would “calm the market”, adding that Mr Johnson could benefit from “sitting this one out” and returning at a later date.
Mr Wallis said: “The last thing the country needs at the moment is chaos. It needs stability. It does not need a complete uproar, change, it needs calmness.
“The danger always is with Boris Johnson – he’s a great vote winner and a clever politician – he is going to come in and just [cause chaos].
“And do not forget, two days after the coronation of whoever is the next Conservative leader, it is supposed to be the budget that is going to save us all and calm the market.
“Do we really think Boris Johnson is capable of coming in and simply doing the sensible and calm thing? It is the contradiction of him.
“Having said that, on the other hand, is he the most likely to save the Tory party? Is he the most likely to give them a chance of winning the next election and keeping Starmer at bay?
“Yes, he is. So, it is a really difficult position.”
Asked if it would be better for the former prime minister to “sit this one out” and come back at a later date, Mr Wallis added: “You only get one chance at a comeback in politics.
“I think this is a really difficult time, a dangerous time for him, really. I think if he was calmer – but he is not of course, he is a completely headstrong man – he might well be more sensible to actually sit this one out.”
Mr Johnson has just touched down back in Britain as he plots a bold attempt to win a second term as prime minister only weeks after he was forced to step down.
The 58-year-old, who was on holiday in the Dominican Republic when Ms Truss resigned, has said nothing publicly about a bid for his old job. But he has received significant support with the party.
The trade minister Sir James Duddridge said on FridayMr Johnson told him he is “up for it” and the former leader will fly back to Britain on Saturday.
It would be an extraordinary political resurrection for the former journalist, who left office shrouded in scandal but grumbling that his colleagues “changed the rules halfway through” a race – a swipe at the Conservative lawmakers who did not allow him to serve a full term.
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Notwithstanding the unprecedented numbers of resignations within government that sparked Mr Johnson’s demise as prime minister in June earlier this year, his supporters have suggested he enjoys the most popularity among MPs and the membership – and is the best placed to defeat Sir Keir Starmer in the next general election.
But in a poll conducted by YouGov on behalf of The Times, Rishi Sunak emerged as the candidate most likely to overcome the electoral threat of the Labour Party.
In a match up between Sir Keir and Mr Johnson, the opposition leader won the vote of 48 percent of respondents, while Mr Johnson won 35 percent.
Mr Sunak, however, ran the Labour leader closer, with 43 percent preferring Sir Keir and 34 opting for the former chancellor.
But the poll also suggests that Sir Keir would win a victory for the Labour Party irrespective of what candidate he comes up against. It also showed that fewer people backed Mr Sunak than they did Mr Johnson; the popularity of Sir Keir appears less obvious, however, when up against Mr Sunak.
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