Boris Johnson will be a “thorn in the side” of his successor, his closest allies have suggested.
Mr Johnson, who will be replaced as Conservative leader on Monday and will step down as Prime Minister on Tuesday, is tipped to make a return to journalism after leaving office.
He is also expected to be a regular on the lucrative after-dinner speaking circuit, a well-worn route for ex-Prime Ministers.
Former staffers on Monday ruled out him attempting to making a comeback to frontline politics, but said he still has fans in the party who may push for him to return to No10.
Theresa May’s former chief of staff Gavin Barwell told Sky News: “I think Boris is going to be difficult for whoever wins.
“If it begins to go badly for the new Prime Minister there is going to that chorus of 'bring back Boris'.
“I suspect he is going to go back to writing a newspaper column.”
Mr Johnson’s ex communications director Will Walden ruled out his former boss attempting to re-enter Downing Street.
“That is not going to happen. I'm pretty sure of that,” Mr Walden said.
He said he believes Mr Johnson will also step down as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip at the next election.
“If he looks in his soul he will realise that he has contributed in the main to his own downfall,” he said.
“But he doesn't want to say that because that trashes the legacy and the legacy is fundamentally about big headlines.
“It's about Ukraine, it's about the vaccine rollout, it's about the 80 seat majority, it's about getting Brexit done. He will be seen as one of the most consequential Prime Ministers of the last 50 years.
“But consequential isn't necessarily successful and I think what will happen is Boris may well prove to be a bit of a thorn in the side of the new leader and the Tory party for the next 18 months.
“I don't expect that he will stand in 2024 and I think he will go off and make a lot of money as a columnist and an author in years to come.”
Mr Johnson is expected to skip the Tory party conference next month after being ousted.
The Telegraph reported that Mr Johnson, traditionally the star of the party gathering, will follow in the footsteps of his predecessors David Cameron and Theresa May, if he does decide to avoid the conference in Birmingham.
Former chief of staff and close aide Lord Udny-Lister said Mr Johnson will be “very sad” as he travels to Balmoral to formally offer his resignation to the Queen.
But he also told Sky News that he would “never say never” about a return for Mr Johnson.
“He is going to be watching all this and if something happens in the future, as you said, the ball comes loose in the scrum, then anything can happen.
“I’m not going to predict. All I’m saying is, I would never write him off.”
Bookmakers have not ruled out Mr Johnson making a comeback as PM.
William Hill reduced the odds on the former Mayor of London re-entering Downing Street after the General Election from 33/1 to 16/1.
