It seems like half of Twitter has fallen in love with Rory Stewart and his whirlwind campaign to become prime minister. But recently, it’s not just centrist swing-voters who’ve been swept off their feet by the International Development Secretary. Certain figures on the pro-no deal side of the Brexit divide now seem to have fallen under Stewart’s spell and are issuing full-throated endorsements of him.
Nigel Farage invited Stewart onto his LBC show yesterday and hailed him for having ‘set alight’ the Tory leadership process, and praised his ‘terrific campaign’. In contrast the pro-Brexit frontrunner, Boris Johnson, has received the strongest criticism from Farage, who has described the blond Etonian as ‘untrustworthy’ for having voted for May’s deal on its third attempt, and of being ‘very confused’ about the single market during the 2016 referendum.
Farage isn’t the only member of the Brexit party milieu who’s rooting for Rory. Leave.EU communications director Andy Wigmore recently described him as ‘clearly intelligent’ and said he would ‘love to see him up against Boris Johnson in the final two’.
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