Remainer Stanley Johnson risks row with Brexiteer Boris by applying to stand in European Parliament elections
Stanley Johnson, 78, said he had answered a call by Tory chiefs but his MEP bid sets the stage for a row with Boris
BORIS Johnson’s Remain-backing dad yesterday revealed he has applied to stand in the Euro elections for the Tories.
I’m a Celebrity star Stanley Johnson, 78, said he had answered a desperate call by Conservative chiefs for would-be candidates to get their applications in by 5pm yesterday.
It sets the stage for a row with his son Boris who has blasted the EU for trying to turn Britain into a vassal state.
Mr Johnson told LBC’s Shelagh Fogarty: “I have thrown my hat in the ring.
“Last night the Conservative party put out an all-points bulletin saying will candidates please let us know by 5pm this evening if they want to be considered as Conservative candidates of the European elections.
“So I sat up for an hour and a half and I jolly well wrote out why I think it is worth doing.”
Ministers have started preparing for the European Parliament elections amid growing expectations Brexit will be delayed for many months.
The vote is expected to cost the country £109milion.
Tory activists are furious Britain looks set to take part in the looming vote, and some Conservative MEPs have refused to stand again.
Mr Johnson - who was an MEP from 1979 to 1984 - said it is absurd that the Tories are “talking down” the elections.
And he suggested Britain might get a better Brexit deal if UK politicians sit in Brussels and engage “constructively” with the bloc.
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