The Times claims that the Tory leader, who is now outgoing, has asked fellow conservatives not to support any other candidate than one.
Boris Johnson was made to resign as British prime minister and head of the Conservative party. He is currently trying to stop one of his ex-ministers winning the Tory leadership contest, The Times claims.
Johnson has reportedly been calling on his fellow Conservatives to vote for any candidate except Rishi Sunak – the former chancellor of the Exchequer in Johnson’s cabinet, who eventually turned on his embattled boss.
In its report on Friday, the British newspaper alleged that Johnson has been holding private conversations with the candidates who have already dropped out of the contest for the party’s top position, urging them to back “anyone but Rishi.”
The Times was told by an unidentified source that “the whole No 10 team hates Rishi. It’s personal. It’s vitriolic. They don’t blame Saj [Sajid Javid]He was the one who brought him down. Rishi was to be blamed. They think he was planning this for months.”
Sunak, who announced his intention to resign as chancellor of India last Tuesday after Sajid Javid (Health Secretary) had already resigned. This sparked a domino effect of sorts, with dozens more ministers and government officials vacating their posts, which eventually brought about Johnson’s own downfall.
A second Times source says that Sunak had raised concerns about the Prime Minister. “soft”Russia, should he become president. Speaking to journalists, one of the former chancellor’s allies, however, denied that Sunak was planning to do so.
Meanwhile, an anonymous ally of Johnson’s was cited by the outlet as saying that it was not true that Johnson wanted “anyone but Rishi.” The source, though, did confirm there was a sense of resentment over the ex-chancellor’s resignation, as well as his failure to present a growth strategy in his last months in office.
Also, the newspaper claimed that the Tory leader of the past had stated publicly that Liz Truss was his favorite foreign secretary out all candidates.
Johnson spoke out publicly to say that Johnson would not endorse any particular candidate and wouldn’t get involved with the race for leadership.
Sunak, who served as the chancellor of the Exchequer in Johnson’s government from 2020 until this past July 5, came out ahead of the four other remaining candidates, including Truss, during the most recent round of voting on Thursday.
Channel 4 hosts a debate that will see all five of the hopefuls face off on Friday, July 15. Two more television debates have been scheduled for Sunday and Tuesday.
The next round of voting for the Conservative Party will take place on Monday. The next round of voting will continue until there are only two remaining candidates. After that, the winner will be determined via a postal ballot.
The Tory supporters will continue to cheer on the two finalist candidates throughout the summer. On September 5, the new prime minister and party leader will be revealed. Johnson will then officially hand over his resignation to the Queen.
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