Boris Johnson faces being booted out by Christmas if he returns as PM and is found guilty in a probe on claims he lied about Partygate, Tories have warned. And key figures fear his comeback would spark a full-scale civil war within the party as it still reels from his scandal-ridden period in office.
With the Tories engulfed in a political storm after Liz Truss quit on Wednesday, Johnson was yesterday still sunning himself on a Caribbean holiday with wife Carrie – as our exclusive picture shows. But he is expected to fly back today to plot a new bid for power.
A friend said last night: “He’s WhatsApping MPs saying, ‘I’m flying back, we’re going to do this, I’m up for it’.” Tory MP James Duddridge claimed Johnson told him in a phone call: “I’m going to do it.”