Boris Johnson backed by key Tory activists demandingTheresa May’s resignation
BORIS JOHNSON last night won the backing of key activists demanding Theresa May’s head – who claimed he was the Tory to beat Jeremy Corbyn.
Dinah Glover, the Conservative who led calls for a grassroots no-confidence vote in the PM, told The Sun she was backing the ex-Foreign Secretary.
The chairman of London East Conservatives said: “He believes in what Brexit can deliver for Britain. I think he would be able to change the nature of the negotiations.”
And separate polling suggested Boris Johnson has three times as much support among Tory members than any other Tory candidate.
The YouGov poll had the Tory heavyweight on 39 per cent – ahead of Brexit leadership rival Dominic Raab on 13 per cent. Michael Gove and Sajid Javid both come next on 9 per cent.
Another poll showed that of six leading Tory figures, all except Boris Johnson would lose the Conservative Party votes compared with the 2017 Election if they became leader.
Sources yesterday claimed Team Boris had sent the polling – for the Politico website – to every sitting Tory MP.
The Sun Says
THE Tories’ choice as their new leader and Prime Minister is simpler than they think.
Which is good — because Britain does not have the luxury of a three-month delay while they agonise over it.
The two greatest dangers this country faces are these: Corbyn’s vicious anti-Semitic hard-left extremists winning power by default via a Tory implosion.
And the collapse of public trust in our democracy via Brexit being thwarted — either by MPs agreeing a second referendum (sewn up for Remain, naturally), or by them simply revoking Article 50.
For now our domestic woes come third. And on those any leader will improve on the shameful paralysis under Theresa May. So for Tories it boils down to this:
Who can best run rings around Corbyn and convince voters to cast him and his Marxist-Communist cronies back to the shadows? And who, by the next election, can lure back millions of Farage supporters by delivering a meaningful Brexit?
If Cabinet “soft Brexit” Remainers nostalgic for the Cameron era think they tick these boxes they are between delusional and unhinged. Brexit and the Corbyn menace changed everything.
But Tory chairman Brandon Lewis will need to sort this far more rapidly than he expects. Mrs May MUST go immediately after her deal’s final defeat in early June — and Lewis must have her replacement in power by early July.
Our future is on a knife-edge. The Tories must make the right choice . . . but fast.
Boris Johnson officially kick started the leadership contest on Thursday by declaring “of course I’m going for it” as Theresa May confirmed plans to go.
Former Tory chairman Grant Shapps – a Boris Johnson supporter – piled pressure on leadership rival, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, yesterday by insisting the new leader must be a Brexit ‘true believer’.
Referring to Mrs May he said: “I think that the Conservative Party is unlikely to want to support another Remainer turned Leaver.
“They tried that before, it hasn’t worked out – one of the problems has been that we weren’t genuinely prepared to leave.”
Boris Johnson – who toured a kids playground and tattoo parlour in his Uxbridge constituency yesterday – is 9/4 favourite to replace Mrs May with bookies. Ladbrokes has Dominic Raab next at 5/1.
But Aid Secretary Rory Stewart delivered a coded attack on Mr Johnson yesterday by warning it would be “madness for the Conservative Party to out-Farage Farage”.
Don't Phil yer boots
PHILIP Hammond has warned Government departments to tighten their belts – in a thinly veiled dig at Tory leadership contenders.
In a letter to Whitehall officials, the Chancellor has warned that spending increases in 2020-2021 are only likely to match inflation.
And he says he is with-holding a £26.6 billion war chest he only plans to use once a Brexit deal is approved.
It follows a huge intervention by Jeremy Hunt earlier this week where he insisted the UK should “decisively increase” defence spending. Other leadership contenders are expected to make big spending pledges in the coming days.
In Mr Hammond’s letter – seen by the Financial Times – the Chancellor warns that without a Brexit resolution, departments will just get a one-year spending settlement.
It is likely to mean some departments see a ‘real-terms’ cut in their budgets given the rising cost of living.
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The self-styled ‘One Nation’ Tory said: “The only answer is to be far more radical in the centre ground.”
Mr Stewart, one of SEVENTEEN Tories in the running to replace Mrs May, admitted yesterday that he wasn’t the front-runner. He said: “Boris is a big beast with a greater speaking style.”
But referring to Brexit, he insisted: “I’ve not been part of this mess – and I’m coming from the outside.”
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