Alan Duncan may have been the first to resign ahead of Boris Johnson’s expected coronation as prime minister but he won’t be the last. Philip Hammond has already announced he’ll jump before he is pushed. And the rest of the so-called Gaukeward Squad are preparing to make their feelings about Boris known.
But what about the MPs and politicians doing the opposite ahead of Boris’s anticipated win? For years Boris is the man certain Tories have loved to hate – and they haven’t been shy about admitting it. Yet now some of the loudest of Boris’s critics have changed their tune. Mr S profiles the members of the reverse Gaukeward squad:
Amber Rudd:
Amber Rudd was once at the vanguard of the Remain-leaning Cabinet contingent. Last year she warned that a no-deal Brexit would be so catastrophic that a second referendum would be ‘absolutely’ preferable to it. Now she is busy down-playing her previous opposition to no deal, telling TalkRadio earlier this month that she accepts ‘no deal is part of the armoury going forward’.
Rudd also hinted during the 2016 referendum campaign that she didn’t trust Boris personally, saying he was ‘not the man you want driving you home at the end of the evening’.
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