Boris Johnson has hurried back to London at breakneck speed
Stanley Johnson has spoken out about the possibility of his son Boris Johnson running for prime minister again.
Liz Truss’ predecessor left Downing Street in disgrace earlier this year after a tumultuous few months in office which involved the Partygate scandal and accusations he had lied about his knowledge of sexual assault allegations against Chris Pincher.
But following Liz Truss resignation after just 44 days in office, a fast-tracked Tory leadership election has been triggered, and many are looking to one man, with Johnson set to stand in the race.
Sky News reported on Friday night that the former PM was jetting back to the UK in economy from his holiday in the Dominican Republic, in order to rally his supporters in an attempt to make a scarcely-believable return to Number 10.
Some passengers are said to have booed the politician.
BREAKING: Boris Johnson has been pictured by Sky News making his way back to the UK.
Read more: https://t.co/kFao1ZfWo1
Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/yGvIkuNdMf
— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 21, 2022
Earlier on Friday, his father, Stanley, addressed reports as to whether his son could be Prime Minister again.
Good Morning Britain presenters Adil Ray and Kate Garraway questioned Stanley over whether Johnson’s “head is in a place” where his father could see him coming back.
While admitting he couldn’t confirm his son’s exact movements, Stanley stated: “Look I think he’s on a plane as I understand it.
“Coming back? He is coming back from wherever he is.”
But he refused to commit to whether or not he would be voting for his son in any vote that goes to Tory members.
He said: “This is what I think. I’m going to listen to what the candidates have to say. […] I will listen to all of them. And I will say, okay, I think I’m going to support Boris, I’m pretty sure I’m going to support Boris.
“But I want to be sure that he’s going to stick to the 2019 manifesto and I particularly want to be sure – because I’m an environmentalist – that he gives a very strong promise not to proceed with Rees-Mogg’s absurd bill.”
'Should there be a general election?'
Stanley Johnson tells @kategarraway and @adilray that he doesn't think there should be a general election at this point.
He disagrees that a comeback from Boris would impact the Conservative party negatively. pic.twitter.com/36gcN2ffL6
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) October 21, 2022
And he was very clear that a general election was not the answer, saying: “I think not at this point because if Boris is the candidate, he can maintain, I think quite plausibly, he […] is now carrying forward the manifesto of 2019.”
Stanley added: “I don’t think Boris went quietly as I recall, he said, ‘Hasta La Vista’. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, there was unfinished business.”
It looks like his old ally Rishi Sunak may be his main challenger to the leadership though.
Candidates for the Tory leadership will need at least 100 nominations from Tory MPs to enter the contest, significantly higher than the last contest, where only 20 nominations were needed.
Because there are only 357 Tory MPs, a maximum of three candidates will be able to enter the race.
But on Friday, senior Tory Ben Wallace announced he would not be running and that he was ‘leaning’ towards supporting Johnson for a return to office.
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