Bedraggled Boris Johnson flew home today – and into a storm over his dream of returning to No10.
Johnson, his shirt barely tucked in, gave a cocky wave which will sicken Brits reeling from his disastrous run as PM.
He touched down at Gatwick at 9.30am after a Caribbean break with wife Carrie, 34, and their two kids.
Astonishingly, Johnson, 58, is in contention despite a string of scandals topped by lockdown partying in Downing Street.
Latest numbers last night suggested he and former Chancellor Rishi Sunak will go head-to-head for the keys to No10.
Here, eight voters say why it must NOT be Johnson.
A care home boss labels him dangerous, the relative of a Covid victim says he is “the rot in the Tory Party”, while a benefits claimant slams him for cuts.
We grieved, Johnson partied
Grieving Hannah Brady lost dad Shaun to Covid – and can never forgive Johnson’s Partygate scandal.
Shaun, 55, died in May 2020 after 42 nights intubated in intensive care. His death certificate was signed on May 20, 2020 – the day of the infamous “bring your own booze” Downing Street garden party.
Teacher Hannah, from Wigan, called the thought of a Johnson return “horrifying”.
She said: “We can’t keep feeding him. He’s the rot at the centre of the Tory Party.
“Don’t forget how Johnson joked about bodies piling high and how he broke his own Covid laws to party. I’m almost glad that my dad isn’t here to witness it.”
Shaun was fit and healthy before getting Covid in April 2020. He died six weeks later, leaving behind Hanna, 26, and sister Tasha, 24.
Hannah added: “We need a general election, no other party could make worse decisions.
“People are choosing between heating and eating – and some can’t afford either.”
I'll never vote for them again
Lifelong Tory Martin Weller has switched to Labour after Johnson’s disastrous PM stint.
Martin, 49, who works for a health insurance firm, said: “I believed in Boris, I thought he was left with a mess with Brexit but got us through it.
“But I don’t think he went hard enough and there were a lot of false promises. The Tory party has lost touch. They’re removed from reality and not fit to govern.”
The dad of three of Chatham, Kent, added: ”I believe in people working hard to make money, but not when it means the rest of us don’t have anything.
“Labour has good ideas but doesn’t explain how to pay for it. But I’ll try them – I’ll not vote Tory again.”
He’s seen by some as lovable buffoon... but he is dangerous
Boris Johnson is today branded dangerous and “the last thing” Britain needs right now.
Care home chief David Crabtree saw eight residents die after a catastrophic Covid policy during Johnson’s reign as PM.
The Tories’ decision to ship untested hospital patients into care homes led to the virus taking seed in his two West Yorkshire homes.
Under Johnson, around 25,000 frail pensioners were rapidly moved into residential homes without Covid checks.
David, 68, said: “Boris Johnson is seen in some quarters as a lovable buffoon – but he’s a dangerous man. My message is ‘be careful what you wish for’.
“If he comes back then we’re nothing but a banana republic.
“It would be funny if it wasn’t so serious.”
David, who runs two care homes in Bingley, said of the Tory race: “All this wrangling is detracting from the real issues in health and social care. As it stands, the NHS will be completely blocked up in a matter of weeks, while carers are leaving in their droves.
“We are at breaking point and the last thing we need is a return to the era of Boris Johnson.
“We need a general election. “The people need to decide.”
Nasty piece of work who laid blame on vulnerable refugees
Refugee charity boss Clare Moseley blasted Boris as “nasty” and said he oversaw immigration polices which are “a stain on our history”.
Care4Calais founder Clare pointed to the “inhumane” plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda and the “criminalising” of migrants.
She said: “The statement he made on many occasions about refugees in Calais was ‘If you come illegally, you are an illegal migrant and the law will treat you as such’. By using that kind of language it criminalises them, which is victim blaming -it’s horrific. It’s nasty to victim blame vulnerable people.”
The Rwanda scheme is being challenged by charities, including Clare’s. They say it has done nothing to deter migrants heading to the UK – with a record 30,000 crossing the Channel in small boats in 2022.
Clare said: “It is brutal in its cruelty, 100% ineffective and it risks making the UK complicit in human rights abuses.
“I can’t think of strong enough words with which to condemn him because of the language he used and the laws he created. Now this person wants to be PM again."
He just stood by as we had to go hungry
Mum Ghazala Basharat skips meals and depends on food banks after a Universal Credit uplift was cruelly taken away.
Full-time mum Ghazala, 34, has to scrimp and save to afford school uniforms for nine-year-old Amelia and son Amaan, eight – while also raising Eliza, two.
Ghazala, who lives in a council house in Ladywood, Birmingham, said: “Boris does not understand our struggles, he never went out of his way to help us.
“He was Prime Minister when those benefits cuts happened and it put a heavy weight on my shoulders. There should be an election so at least people get their freedom to vote for someone who will make a difference.
“I sometimes go without at least one meal a day. When the kids come home I make something nutritious for them and then I have some tea and toast or just rice.
“I worry about blackouts – we’re going to be in the dark and cold. I’m already thinking of finding cheap lamps, torches or even candles.”
Ghazala, whose partner can’t work for health reasons, is among six million who saw Universal Credit cut when a £20-a-week pandemic boost was withdrawn.
Food aid numbers doubled with him in No10...this is the worst I’ve ever seen
Foodbank champion Mick Fleming says the number of people seeking helped doubled after Boris became PM.
Pastor Mick, 56, gets 2,000 people a week through his doors in Burnley, Lancs. He said: “Boris is not the answer. If I was a Conservative, I’d be hanging my head.
"The party is split and fractured. We need a PM who will sit down with the other parties, use the talents of the best people, work together and come up with a plan to get us out of this. People are dying because of poverty.
“It is horrendous, the worst I have seen. I see pensioners in tears and people who work full-time but don’t have the bus fare to get to work. The country is on the verge of bankruptcy both economically and socially. If the Government can’t see this, it is blind. The trickle-down economics doesn’t work.”
He turned the Tories into a gang of deluded mobsters
Mental health nurse Ed Freshwater called the prospect of a Johnson return “sickening”, saying if he worked in any reputable profession he’d have been struck off.
Ed, 45, from Birmingham, said: “You couldn’t be a lawyer with his behaviour, or a doctor or a nurse.
“Giving him even the most basic job is ridiculous, let alone being in charge of the country. Let’s not split hairs – this guy is a proven liar, a work shy deadweight who’s got where he is through family connections and pandering to whichever rich donor he happens to be talking to.”
Ed, who is a frontline mental health nurse in a community crisis team, has given more than a decade of service to the NHS.
He said: “Daily I see good people driven to the verge of suicide by the fruits of Tory policy.
“Poor employment, poor housing, cuts to benefits, lack of investment in social and health services, skyrocketing gas and electric, rising food prices.
“The Tories under Johnson became a dangerous, truth denying, economy wrecking gang of deluded mobsters.”
Business doesn’t need us walking back into chaos
Small business owner Affi Parvizi-Wayne hit out at Johnson’s Brexit “lies” that made EU trade a minefield.
Affi founded eco period-care brand Freda in 2018 and says before Brexit she sent products to Germany and France “as easily as I’d send them to Birmingham”.
She said: “We were given assurances the red tape would be cut back, but there’d been no red tape to begin with. It was straight forward having my products shipped from Sweden – they were my neighbours, it didn’t matter.
“The least you’d expect post-Brexit is something very similar… but no. It’s been one big s***show.”
Affi, 57, of North London, stopped selling direct to EU customers – 30% of sales – as Customs delays risked harming her brand.
She said: “Periods don’t wait for Brexit.
“My products come from Sweden and my minimum order quantity doubled – they can’t be bothered to do the export papers for less.”
She said of a possible Johnson comeback: “We’d be walking into chaos.”
