• Insiders say the Conservative “brand” has been tarnished by the leadership race. A petition to “Bring Back Boris” has received over 10,000 signatures out of an estimated 160,000 members.
• Former party treasurer Lord Peter Cruddas claims Mr Johnson wants to fight the next election.
• Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak debated who was better suited to be Britain’s next prime minister. Some senior party figures have suggested that Boris Johnson could undermine his successor. Tory members are sceptical of the idea, with one calling it a sham attempt by “loyalists”.

The British Conservative Party leadership race has devolved to the point where influential party figures are considering backing a campaign to re-elect Boris Johnson.

Insiders say the Conservative “brand” has been tarnished by the increasingly fractious contest between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, and the party faces losing power at Westminster.

A petition to “Bring Back Boris” has received over 10,000 signatures out of an estimated 160,000 members.

They want Mr Johnson’s name on the ballot alongside Mr Sunak’s and Ms Truss’s, but time is running out, with voting papers due to be mailed out on Monday, August 1.

Many also believe that neither Ms Truss nor Mr Sunak have the personality to win over voters in the Red Wall seats of northern England, which are critical to the Tories retaining power, whereas Mr Johnson has demonstrated his ability to win elections.

Some people would vote for Mr Johnson if he killed kittens in the street, according to Piers Montague.

Lord Cruddas told The Daily Telegraph that they had discussed a “bring back Boris” campaign in which the membership would be polled to determine whether they accepted Mr Johnson’s resignation.

“He wants to continue, and he believes he can with the membership’s support,” Lord Cruddas said.

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak debated who was better suited to be Britain’s next prime minister on Monday night on BBC television. AFP
However, some Tory party members are sceptical of the idea.

Piers Montague, a Conservative councillor in Kent, told The National that it was a sham attempt by “loyalists,” some of whom were “swivel-eyed loons” who would “vote for Mr Johnson even if he killed kittens in the street.”

Some senior party figures have suggested that Mr Johnson could undermine his successor from the back benches in order to make a comeback.

“He will be [Edward] Heath with jokes added and [Margaret] Thatcher with consistency removed, all rolled into a bundle of resentment, denial, attention-seeking, and attempted vindication that will be a permanent nightmare for the new prime minister,” former Conservative leader William Hague wrote in The Times, referring to former prime ministers.

He claimed that Mr Johnson’s desire for vengeance on Mr Sunak, whose resignation as chancellor precipitated his downfall, was “already obvious.”

Mr Johnson’s “time in office is coming to an end,” according to Welsh Secretary Robert Buckland, ushering in “a new chapter for him and a new chapter for the Conservative Party.”

Mr Johnson will leave his post in early September, according to a Downing Street spokesman.

“The prime minister has resigned as party leader and stated his intention to step down as PM once a new leader has been appointed.”

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