A close ally of Boris Johnson has claimed he has the 100 backers he needs to put his name forward for Prime Minster.
So far, only half of that number has declared in public and key Tories have deserted Johnson as he raced back from his Caribbean beach holiday this morning.
He told allies he was “up for” the leadership race but is far short of the 100 publicly-declared nominations needed by 2pm on Monday to get on the ballot, the Mirror reports.
But in a surprise move his former parliamentary aide, James Duddridge, tweeted just before 3pm on Saturday: “New - Boris Johnson has more than 100 backers”.
That would mean more than 40 backers offering support in private, without saying it publicly.
It comes despite a string of key former allies - Lord Frost, Dominic Raab and Steve Barclay - disowning Johnson this morning and backing his rival Rishi Sunak instead.
Boris Johnson has not yet declared he will run, and there is still speculation he could team up with Rishi Sunak - who has already passed the 100 nominees he needs to run for PM.
But the ex-PM's dad Stanley today predicted his son "will put his name forward", and added as a Tory member he will personally vote for him.
Mr Johnson Senior told GB News "he believes there are things to do still” and despite lucrative speaking offers, “he’s ready to give those temptations up to endure the slings and arrows” of leadership.
An MP who is leaning towards Rishi Sunak voiced doubt about the figure to the Mirror, pointing out that MPs can say one thing privately and do another thing in the election.
The MP said they had spoken to constituents and “I was totally surprised by how many of them are not on board with Boris. Many of them are thinking Rishi."
They claimed: “I think one way or another Boris will not be Prime Minister. Either he’ll not get to 100, or he’ll get to 100, MPs will have an indicative vote and it’ll be clear he’s not the favourite.
“Backing Rishi is the logical and sensible thing to do.”
But a Boris Johnson ally told the Mirror: "I would be surprised if he doesn’t make 100”. They pointed out more than 150 MPs were still to declare - many of them right-wing Brexiteers who may swing behind Mr Johnson if no right-wing candidate emerges.
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