Tory MPs now openly discuss who they’d back in a contest to replace Boris Johnson, as the jockeying for his successor is becoming more obvious.
While most attention has so far focused on Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, other names are now starting to bubble to the surface – in particular, former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi.
Mr Hunt was Mr Johnson’s final opponent in the 2019 Tory leadership contest, promising Mr Johnson the ‘fight of his life’ – but in the end, Tory members backed the Brexit-supporting Mr Johnson over Remainer Mr Hunt by a margin of 66 per cent to 34 per cent.
Tory MPs have begun to openly debate who they would support if there was a vote tomorrow, with the jostling for Boris Johnson’s successor becoming increasingly intense. While most attention has so far focused on Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, other names are now starting to bubble to the surface – in particular, former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt (above) and Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi
Many MPs have also been promoting the prospect of Mr Zahawi (above), an eminent figure who, as the Vaccines minister, was closely associated with early jab rollout success.
With Brexit now not dominating political agendas, Mr Hunt will be likely to try to enter a race on an “I said you so” ticket. He would like to present himself as a “safe pair of eyes” in light of the chaotic Johnson administration. It also highlights his lengthy tenure as a strong Health Secretary.
Rival camps claims that Mr Hunt, now chair of the Health Select Committee, has a leadership team of former advisers already in place, as well as a ready-made Cabinet comprised of former allies of Theresa May – who, as The Mail on Sunday revealed last week, has become the focus of much of the plotting against Mr Johnson.
His fellow members of the select committee, including Tom Tugendhat, Tobias Ellwood, and Huw Merriman (transport), would all be optimistic about their advancement as Hunt leaders.
Pictured: Foreign Secretary Liz Truss with Chancellor Rishi Sonak. While Tom Tugendhat is expected to challenge Tom Tugendhat, Tom Tugendhat (Health Secretary Sajid javid), Tom Tugendhat, Penny Mourdant, Penny Tugendhat, Trade Secretary Penny Mourdant, and former Cabinet Minister Matt Hancock are other potential candidates.
However, many MPs have also been praising the prospect of Mr Zahawi. This popular figure was, prior to moving into Education, the Vaccines Ministry and associated with early jab rollout success.
Pro-Brexit candidate Mr Zahawi has a unique ‘backstory’. He fled Saddam Hussein’s Iraq along with his family to begin secondary school in Britain, but was unable to learn English.
To build a career in business, he defied all the bullies at London Comprehensive and said: “This is the greatest country in the World.”
“I don’t know of any country which would allow an immigrant to Baghdad to be Secretary of State in Education under Her Majesty’s government.”
Mr Hunt was Mr Johnson’s final opponent in the 2019 Tory leadership contest, promising Mr Johnson the ‘fight of his life’ – but in the end, Tory members backed the Brexit-supporting Mr Johnson over Remainer Mr Hunt by a margin of 66 per cent to 34 per cent
One Tory MP said, “Keep an Eye on Nadhim.
‘He is very popular, polls well and is untainted by the f*** ups of this Government’.
These contenders fight in particular for the 107 Tory MPs who were elected in 2019. They make up nearly one-third of the Parliamentary party.
Their key role was in Tuesday’s Commons revolt against the Prime Minister. This vote has poisoned atmosphere within the group.
One ‘Waller’, who is on the Government ‘payroll’ as a Parliamentary aide but has privately backed Ms Truss for leader, has been accused by colleagues of acting like a ‘budget Boris’ by wavering until the last minute between loyalty and rebellion in the vote — and preparing two different public statements to release depending on which way he jumped.
He backed Johnson and nearly immediately released a lengthy supportive statement. This led to him being described as a “crawler” on the WhatsApp groups of MPs.
Although the MP admitted to having doubts about voting, he denied making two statements.
One Red Wall MP explained that while the letters have been confirmed to come in from 2019, the majority of the people are split between Liz, Priti, and Rishi at this point.
Others likely to run are Priti Patel (Home Secretary), Sajid Javid (Health Secretary), Mr Tugendhat and Penny Mourdant (Trade Minister).