Home Secretary Theresa May emerging as favoured ‘Stop Boris’ candidate to replace the Prime Minister
After guiding Vote Leave to a Brexit there is an operation to block Mr Johnson from entering Downing Street
HOME Secretary Theresa May is being tipped to stand as the “Stop Boris” candidate by enemies of the former London Mayor who want to block his path to Downing Street.
After a historic vote for Brexit many believe Mr Johnson will become the next Prime Minister, but there are many in the Tory party who want to try and stop him.
George Osborne would have been the preferred choice of David Cameron and his allies, but the Chancellor has been damaged by losing the EU referendum.
He is seen as one of the key architects of so-called ‘Project Fear’ by the Remain team, after a number of economic warnings from the Treasury about the dangers of a vote to Leave.
They were dismissed by voters as scaremongering, and coupled with a series of embarrassing Commons defeats on his recent economic policy, has seen his stock plummet.
Instead Ms May was emerging last night as the favoured challenger to Mr Johnson in the upcoming Tory leadership election.
She is seen as the person who may be able to put the party back together, after it was once again left deeply divided over Britain’s relationship with Europe.
But despite already getting the support of the PM’s allies, she may lack the Parliamentary support to stop Boris from getting the keys to Number 10.
A Conservative leadership battle sees MPs vote for candidates, with the person with the lowest number dropping out until there are just two left.
The final pair are then voted on by the party’s membership via a postal ballot, with Mr Johnson expected to beat any candidate if he gets down the last two given his popularity with the Tory grassroots.
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Opponents are therefore attempting to block him from reaching this stage, and could use the Home Secretary to do so.
Speaking to , a senior figure said: “I would find it all but impossible to have him as my leader.
“I don’t know if he can be prevented from making it to No 10 but many of us are willing to try.”
Many believe that the PM, by announcing that a new leader should be in place by the Conservative conference in the autumn, has given himself three months to try and block Boris from replacing him, who he blames for his crushing defeat in the referendum.
But he might not be able to choose when he steps aside, after Liam Fox said: “The timetable for a leadership election in the Conservative Party isn’t determined by the leader, it’s determined by the 1922 committee.”
The former Defence Secretary was referring to the group of Tory backbenchers who will arrange the voting, which has a meeting of its executive committee on Monday.
“And my personal view would be that we would do what we did in 2005 and have that election after the party conference when after all the party members are going to have to have a role in this selection,” he added.
Who will replace David Cameron?
Here are the runners and riders to be our next PM:
Boris Johnson 4/7
His great appeal is his ability to win elections. Against the odds he took City Hall and he gambled his career on leading Britain out of the Brexit door.
As the figurehead of the Vote Leave campaign it follows that has country-wide appeal, with 17.5million voters backing Brexit.
But while immensely popular with the Tory grassroots, Boris is short of a few friends in the parliamentary party and he'll need them if he is to get through the first round of leadership contest.
But it would be a stretch to imagine a Tory leadership contest without his blonde bonce in the scrum.
George Osborne 16/1
The Chancellor has endured a torrid EU referendum campaign, having to do much of the peddling of Remain’s Project Fear economic doomsday Brexit forecasts.
Before that he also faced a series of embarrassing Commons defeats and earlier this month 65 Tory MPs roundly rejected his proposals for an emergency “Brexit budget” calling it “absurd”.
It is thought he will have to be moved in a Cabinet reshuffle to another post.
Once seen as the natural successor to David Cameron’s throne and the continuity candidate, his odds will have plummeted after Brits voted Brexit.
Theresa May 5/2
The Home Secretary kept her head down during the EU referendum, so much so that she was criticised by some within the party for failing to pull her weight.
Seen by some as the unity candidate, the “Ice Queen” and reluctant Remainer has leapfrogged Osborne as the likely candidate to take on Boris in a leadership race.
Despite being the longest serving Home Secretary in 100 years, her "lack of star quality" could cost her when it comes down to votes from the Tory grassroots.
She recently appointed respected political hack Joey Jones, sparking speculation she is putting together her team in time for a leadership challenge.
Michael Gove 5/1
The other Brexiteer to be in with a shot at the title.
Popular with Tory MPs but disliked by the public, support among the Conservative membership has swelled for the Justice Secretary during the campaign, with 31 per cent backing him for leader.
He has always claimed he is not interested in the leadership but now with his close friend Cameron cleanly dispatched he might reconsider.
Nicky Morgan 33/1
Considered a rank outsider for the top job. The Education Secretary announced her intention to run last year once Mr Cameron stepped down.
Selling herself as “Mrs Normal” she has said she wants to see a “female leader of a main Westminster political party”.
She is not fancied as a favourite at the bookies.