Boris Johnson has refused to rule out a political comeback as he faces his final few days in No 10. Former MP and Tory leadership candidate Rory Stewart raised the prospect over the weekend that Mr Johnson could be readying a 'Berlusconi' return, referencing the controversial three-time Italian PM.
On a visit to Dorset to plug the government's high-speed internet roll-out, Mr Johnson refused to be drawn on his plans after he is replaced as prime minister by Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak next week. Asked if he would rule out a comeback, he told reporters: “I think on the whole people in this country are more interested in their gigabit broadband than they are in the fate of this or that politician.”
Mr Johnson’s demise was ultimately triggered by the row after former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher's was accused of inappropriate behaviour. Asked if he had regrets about the way allegations of misconduct had been dealt with, Mr Johnson said: “All those things have to be handled carefully and sensitively and we have processes for dealing with them, and people who have complaints should raise them in the normal way.”
Mr Johnson declined to give himself a rating out of 10 for his term in office. He acknowledged people would face "tough" months ahead due to the soaring cost of living but promised more announcements on energy security, including on nuclear power. Mr Jpohnson said a huge amount of help had already been announced to cope with rising energy costs, but his successor would be able to provide “a further package of support”.
“Whichever of the two candidates gets in next week, what the Government is also going to do is provide a farther package of support for helping people with the cost of energy,” he said. “What we’ve got to do is get through the tough months – and I’m not going to shrink from this, it is going to be tough in the months to come,” he said.
But Mr Johnson said he wanted to give people a “sense of hope and perspective” because their consumption of Russian fossil fuels had already declined and the Government had a “long-term British energy security strategy. We’re putting in more nuclear – you’re going to be hearing more about that later this week – and we’re putting in absolutely shedloads of wind power”.
