Boris Johnson and wife Carrie are pictured at a beach bar on their Caribbean holiday blissfully relaxing amid rumours he could return to power.
The former Prime Minister was snapped sitting in luxury in the Dominican Republic as turmoil unfolded 4,300 miles across the Atlantic.
A British holidaymaker visiting a pal at the island’s Casa De Campo resort spotted the ex-Premier looking “chilled out”.
The tourist told the Mirror: “It’s basically the most exclusive place you can be in the Dominican Republic.
“It’s quite a big resort, you’ve got exclusive hotels and villas within there - they’re humongous these places.”
The snap of Mr Johnson, 58, and Carrie, 34, was taken at about 5pm last Friday - hours after Kwasi Kwarteng was fired as Chancellor and doomed Liz Truss's excruciating Downing Street press conference.
“They were in quite deep conversation,” said the British tourist. It was fairly big news back in the UK. ”
It comes amid claims that Mr Johnson has the backing of more than 100 MPs - the threshold needed to get on the ballot paper to run once again to be Tory leader replacing Mrs Truss.
A premier suite at the resort which boasts three white sand beaches can cost up to £13,250 for a week.
It costs £1,076 a night to stay at one of the resort's numerous villas, and golfing packages which offer playing time on its three courses come in at £1,130 a night.
The gated complex, which opened as the country's first almost 50 years ago, has eight restaurants along with shops, a beach club, marina, and equestrian centre which has facilities to stage polo matches along with a shooting course.
The holidaymaker said the sunshine getaway was “a bit of an escape” for the ex-PM, who is thought to be planning to travel back to Britain as the Tory leadership race gets underway.
“They just seemed all right in conversation, fairly relaxed,” they said.
“He just seemed fairly chilled out. The place where he was is a very nice part of the Dominican Republic, so it would be hard not to be relaxed where he was.”
The tourist added: “He seemed quite normal to be honest.
“I didn’t go over or anything like that but just as we were leaving there was someone who I think was French got a photo with him - a girl. He was happy to have his photo taken with her.”
The image of Boris emerges a day after Liz Truss sensationally quit as Prime Minister, just 44 days after the Tories voted her as the head of the Conservative Party.
Her predecessor sunbathed on two holidays, taking in a sun-kissed trip to Greece days after returning from a relaxing break at a Slovenian spa following his own resignation in July.
And he had jetted off to the Caribbean by the time Truss was claiming she was “a fighter, not a quitter” during a bruising PMQs .
The next day she was on the steps of Downing Street offering her resignation after being told she no longer had the support of Tory MPs.
She will become Britain’s shortest-serving PM when she steps down next week, breaking the record of George Canning, who died in office after just 119 days.
During her short premiership, Truss sacked her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng less than five weeks after being appointed as their calamitous mini-Budget collapsed around them .
She then made a humiliating U-turn on pledges made during the summer's Tory leadership contest as she ripped up the tax-slashing proposed just last month .
On Wednesday the Home Secretary Suella Braverman quit her role and discipline among Tory MPs also broke down amid chaotic scenes in the Commons.
During her brief resignation speech, the outgoing PM said: “I came to office at a time of great economic and international instability.
“Families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills. Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine threatens the security of our whole continent and our country has been held back for too long by low economic growth.
“I was elected by the Conservative Party with a mandate to change this.
“I recognise though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.
“I therefore spoke to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.”
Although she has quit as PM millions of people are still reeling from the effects of her shambolic mini-Budget for the rich, which sparked soaring mortgage payments and the threat of savage cuts to public services to fill the financial black hole she caused.
In the wake of the sudden resignation some Tory supporters called for the return of holidaying Boris Johnson, despite his own wretched record in No.10.
The former PM’s time in office was littered with scandals, including Partygate, a row over his handling of sex harassment complaints against a minister and a looming probe over claims he misled Parliament.
The ex-PM is said to be telling MPs that he is their only chance of avoiding electoral wipe-out as Labour surges in the polls.
Meanwhile tens of thousands of people have signed the Mirror’s petition calling for a General Election.
