Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Boris Johnson not invited to David Cameron’s EU Cabinet meeting

As ministers roll into No10 in front of the cameras, reporters have noticed the absence of one Boris de Pfeffel Johnson. It turns out that the Prime Minister has convened a meeting of the normal Cabinet, rather than a ‘political Cabinet.’ A minor distinction, but it does mean no Boris Johnson – who is a member of the latter organisation, but not the former. Now, of course, you can argue that it takes a normal Cabinet to approve the deal on behalf of the government. But friends of Boris had been hoping for a political Cabinet, at which everyone would say their piece, followed by a rubber stamp at the Cabinet. And that way, Boris could seen as part of the team.

Of course, if the Mayor was expected to declare David Cameron’s deal to be a triumph worthy of endorsement in a referendum, it would rather suit the Prime Minister to have him saying so on the way out of No10. My hunch is that Cameron had another image in mind: that of Michael Heseltine coming out of No10 and announcing that he’d run against Thatcher. And that is a drama that Cameron would not want to re-enact today.

Because, make no mistake: if Boris does decide to come out against the EU (and it’s still an ‘if’ at this stage) then he will be running for leader – in the expectation that a ‘leave’ vote would mean curtains for both Cameron and George Osborne. Ah the games, the games.

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