Starmer warned: Return of ‘rock star’ Boris will hit your chances of being PM
LABOUR strategists have warned Sir Keir Starmer that the return of Boris Johnson as Tory leader poses the biggest threat to his chances of entering Downing Street.
Private polling studied by Labour high command suggests that the key swing voters who switched to the Tories in the 2019 General Election are increasingly discounting the negative publicity surrounding the ‘Partygate’ rows which dogged Mr Johnson’s time in office, and are placing more emphasis on his leadership during the Covid crisis.
It comes as former Cabinet Minister Nadine Dorries, a Boris loyalist, tells The Mail on Sunday that the Tory Party will ‘die’ if Mr Johnson does not return as leader.
The ex-Culture Secretary writes: ‘It’s bring back Boris Johnson or die because the first priority of any Labour government will be to ensure that there will never be a majority Conservative government ever again.’
One Labour strategist tells MoS columnist Dan Hodges today that the ousting of Mr Johnson last year was ‘like gold dust for us’. The strategist said: ‘It brought into play this whole group of voters who were out of reach. There are a clump of seats we thought we could win that we now think we should win.’
Ms Dorries adds: ‘The fact is, he is the most impactful, charismatic, progressive and productive leader the Conservative Party has known since the days of Margaret Thatcher. 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? He is still our political rock star out on the streets.’
Sources close to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak play down the credibility of a Boris comeback, which they say is being stoked by his acolytes – and by Labour strategists hoping to destabilise the current administration.
The news comes as former Chief Whip Mark Spencer said Mr Johnson could have a ‘big role in politics in the future’.
When asked whether the former PM would make a comeback, the Environment Minister said people should ‘never write him off’.
The Conservative MP for Sherwood told GB News in an interview to be broadcast today: ‘If you look back, everybody said he could never become Mayor of London, and he did it. And then they said, “Well you’ll never get re-elected. Look at the polls, the polls are telling you you’ll never get re-elected.” And he did it. “Well, you’ll never solve Brexit, Boris. The Theresa May government was completely paralysed. There’s nothing you can do, Boris, to solve this problem.” And he did it.
‘You know, I think you write Boris Johnson off at your peril. He’s a hugely, hugely talented politician.’