Boris Johnson admits he wishes he were PM and should have taken down Theresa May as he blasts Brexit deal

BORIS Johnson regrets not challenging Theresa May to become Prime Minister, he admitted today.

The heavyweight Brexiteer suggested he now believes he was wrong to drop out of the Tory leadership contest in 2016.

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And he said his time in the Cabinet ended up being a "battle for the steering wheel of Brexit" as Remainers tried to keep Britain tied to the EU.

During an LBC interview Boris was asked if he'd "bottled it" by dropping his campaign to become PM after David Cameron quit in the wake of the Brexit referendum.

Mr Johnson withdrew when he was abandoned by allies Michael Gove and Andrea Leadsom, who launched their own leadership bids.

He said: "It was a complicated business, I had a campaign that I wanted to get going...

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"In retrospect if I had my time again I might have done things differently, but anyway.

"I certainly have engaged in a lot of heart-searching ever since.

"There is no point crying over spilt milk, the point is to get on and look where we are today."

Boris, who quit as Foreign Secretary last summer, said his two years in the Cabinet were a constant fight between Brexiteers and Remainers who want to overturn the referendum result.

He told LBC: "What was happening in that period was a sort of battle for the steering wheel of Brexit.

"There were very depressing times when it was clear that those who fundamentally wanted to stay in the EU did have the upper hand.

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"The withdrawal agreement does incarnate a lot of those Remain tendencies."

But the Brexit backer refused to open up about his relationship with new squeeze Carrie Symonds following reports the pair are set to get married.

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He said: "I don't discuss these things."

Mr Johnson is one of a dozen Tory heavyweights who today sent a letter to MPs calling on them to vote down Mrs May's Brexit deal.

They want to see the PM present an ultimatum to Brussels - either give us a better deal or we'll leave on World Trade Organisation terms.

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