As MPs return to parliament after the Christmas break, Rishi Sunak is under pressure both on the NHS and strikes. Union leaders have been invited for talks with ministers today in a bid to find a landing zone (though there still seems to be a rather large gap between the two sides). Yet while aides in Downing Street worry about domestic issues, it’s another story that had MPs animated over the weekend: the prospect of a Boris Johnson comeback.
Key Johnson ally Nadine Dorries penned a piece for the Mail on Sunday declaring the Tories ‘must bring back Boris or die’. In her article – which referenced a report in the paper that Keir Starmer has been warned the return of Johnson poses the greatest threat to Labour at the next election – Dorries writes: ‘The future of Conservative MPs rests in their own hands, and they have a simple question to ask themselves: do they want to remain as MPs or not?’
Dorries isn’t alone. She is one of a number of political figures (from Jake Berry to Mark Spencer) to publicly suggest that Johnson is likely to return whether it is this side of the election or after a Tory loss in 2024. The new Conservative Democratic Organisation – backed by prominent Johnson backers Priti Patel and the Tory donor Lord Cruddas – is technically about giving power back to the members. But given Johnson’s support among the grassroots, some MPs see it as a front for a Boris comeback.
As one MP put it to me about Johnson’s supporters before Christmas: ‘It’s very clear that they are creating the infrastructure in parliament and outside to mount a comeback.’
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