A “BORIS bus” could be headed to the Perth Tory leadership hustings as some members demand a vote on Johnson’s future, a peer has suggested.
Lord Cruddas of Shoreditch is leading a campaign for members to have a say in whether or not Johnson should have resigned as Prime Minister, and for him to be added to the leadership ballot.
The former party treasurer, who was ennobled by Johnson, told the Chopper’s Politics podcast that 6000 party members had signed up to lobby Andrew Stephenson, the party chairman, over Johnson.
Cruddas, who described Johnson’s ousting as “anti-democratic”, said the membership were angry at party MPs and wouldn’t be surprised if there were “protests and a battle bus”.
The 68-year-old was co-founder of Vote Leave, gave £1.3 million to the campaign, and has donated between £4 and £4.5m to the Tory party since 2009.
He told The Telegraph that one idea was to send a “Boris Bus” to sit outside of hustings events, adding: “That's a possibility. People are angry, they want to protest and members want to protest.”
There will be 12 hustings over the summer for members to question contenders Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak; the first in Leeds on Thursday July 28, and the Perth event taking place on August 16.
Crudas added: "We're a good campaign. We're about sticking up for the members. And so if the members want to campaign, that's up to them.
"We just got down to the final two. But it wouldn't surprise me if you don't see protests and a battle bus."
Many Johnson backers could even spoil their ballots or write-in the caretaker PM’s name in protest, such is the anger amongst members that he was removed, Crudas added.
"That's a possibility. I have heard that from various members," he admitted.
Asked what he would write on his voting slip when faced with the choice of Sunak or Truss, he said: "I'll write Boris on it."
According to the Sunday Times rich list, Cruddas is worth £1.3 billion. He was forced to resign as party co-treasurer in 2012 after a Sunday Times investigation claimed he had offered access to then PM David Cameron for a £250,000 donation to the party, something Crudas denied and took to court, where he was awarded damages for libel.
Cruddas said he was aiming for around 20,000 party members to join the campaign. He previously said the decision by MPs to force Johnson to resign was "anti-democratic to the party and to the electorate".
He said: "The damage is that you now have a very discontent, angry - not everybody - but overall a membership that works hard.
"They don't get paid. They're volunteers. They're out campaigning. And effectively at the next election, you're going to ask them to campaign for someone they didn't elect.
"I can tell you one thing for sure. The members of the Conservative Party are very angry. They have been undermined by the parliamentary party."
The peer then claimed he had been criticised by a fellow member of the House of Lords over his stance, and then claimed without Johnson’s the Tory party is a “centre-left party”.
He said: "I am on the side of the membership. The Conservative Party today without Boris is a centre-left party.
