Second Tory leadership race in three months underway with speculation over whether Boris Johnson will run for his old job

Published

3 years ago

October 20, 2022

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The second Tory leadership race in just three months is underway following the extraordinary resignation of Liz Truss.

The now-outgoing PM was forced from office after just 44 days following a seismic few weeks in Westminster that saw her tax-slashing mini-budget crash and burn.

Ms Truss’s resignation, signalling the end of the shortest term by any prime minister in modern British history, followed a raft of humiliating U-turns, the loss of two of her most senior Cabinet ministers and an open revolt by Tory MPs.

All eyes are now on who could replace her – with speculation mounting that Boris Johnson could launch a spectacular comeback to frontline politics, just six weeks after he was officially ousted from the top job.

Party rules for the new leadership contest mean PM hopefuls would need the backing of at least 100 Tory MPs by Monday afternoon to face off against any other successful challenger in a vote of the membership.

This will rule out a number of candidates from running and means the maximum number of people able to stand is three.

Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful 1922 backbench committee, said: “We fixed a high threshold but a threshold that should be achievable by any serious candidate who has a prospect of going through.”

Who are the runners and riders?

Tory MPs are scrambling to find a replacement who can unite the party and turn around its fortunes after a series of dire polls predicted electoral wipe out.

The new inhabitant of No 10 faces a daunting set of challenges – from the cost of living crisis and rising energy bills to resolving the Northern Ireland protocol row, and war in Ukraine.

Although big hitter Jeremy Hunt has already ruled himself out of the running, there are other Tory MPs who appear to be waiting in the wings.

Sky’s deputy political editor Sam Coates says former chancellor and Tory leadership finalist Rishi Sunak has signalled he is “very, very up for the job”.

Commons leader Penny Mordaunt has also “been making it clear in her public appearances that she’s up for the job”.

And Suella Braverman – who resigned as home secretary on Wednesday– was highly critical of Ms Truss when she stepped down, in a move that allies believe shows she is also keen to step up to the plate.

Coates says: “The question now is who will stand aside and who will survive in an intense, week-long leadership contest.”

Nominations opened on Thursday and will close at 2pm on Monday – with a new leader to be chosen by Friday 28 October.

The final two candidates will take part in a hustings event organised with news broadcasters, before an online vote for members to choose who they want to lead the party.

However, we could have a new leader sooner than that.

One potential option is that MPs coalesce around one candidate, meaning the contest will be over on Monday if only one person is able to receive enough nominations.

‘Bring back Boris’

On Thursday night, momentum appeared to be swinging behind Boris Johnson amid reports he will throw his hat in the ring.

Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, a staunch Johnson ally, told Sky News she is confident he will meet the 100 MPs threshold.

“There is only one MP who has the mandate of the British public, who won a general election only three years ago with an 80-seat majority, and that was Boris Johnson,” Ms Dorries said.

“He is a known winner and that is certainly who I’m putting my name against because I want us to win the general election. Having a winner in place is what the party needs to survive.”

While multiple Tory MPs have expressed their support for a Johnson comeback, any attempt to return to frontline politics is proving divisive.

Senior backbencher Sir Roger Gale MP tweeted to remind people that the ex-prime minister, who resigned in a mire of sleaze, was still under investigation by the Privileges Committee for potentially misleading the House over partygate.

If found guilty, Mr Johnson could face recall proceedings that would leave him battling for his seat in the Commons if he receives a suspension of 10 days or more.

Sir Roger told Times Radio that, if Mr Johnson is voted back in as PM, he would resign from the Conservative party whip and stand as an independent.

Could Boris Johnson reach 100 nominations?

There are currently 357 Conservative MPs, 148 of whom voted against Mr Johnson in a confidence vote just a few months ago.

If they refuse to back him again, that leaves 209 MPs to choose from.

Liz Truss had 113 nominations this summer, so these are all up for grabs.

Brenden Clark-Smith, the Conservative MP for Bassetlaw, is among the group calling to “bring back Boris”.

However, problems with a Johnson candidacy include his popularity with the public crashing – even if he still rides high with the Tory membership.

Polling for the Conservatives was already dropping during Mr Johnson’s premiership as it became beset with scandals, including the ex-PM breaking his own lockdown laws.

Mr Johnson was ultimately forced to announce his resignation on 7 July as Cabinet allies turned on him with a series of resignations.

The final straw was questions about his judgment over Chris Pincher, the then-Tory whip who was the centre of drunken groping allegations. That came on top of Mr Johnson’s attempts to change the rules to prevent the suspension of then-Conservative MP Owen Paterson after he broke lobbying rules.

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Ms Truss officially took over from Mr Johnson on 6 September, with members favouring her tax-slashing plan for growth over Mr Sunak’s more conservative fiscal policies.

But just two weeks into the job, her disastrous mini-budget sparked chaos in the financial markets, leading to the sacking of chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and a humiliating abandonment of the very economic policies that brought her into office.

Many MPs have voiced their support for Mr Sunak – who had warned Ms Truss that her economic policies were “immoral” and campaigned for fiscal responsibility during the last leadership race.

Jonathan Djanogly and Mark Garnier both tweeted their support for him late on Thursday night.

Richard Holden MP said that in the “difficult economic times, the party and the country needs a PM who has got the economic experience to deliver real stability over the next few years and get the ship of state back on an even keel – and that person is Mr Sunak”.

‘Last chance saloon’

A vicious leadership contest would further divide an already split party which is about to see its third prime minister in the space of a few months – and many Tory MPs are calling for colleagues to unite behind the next leader, whoever that may be.

Justin Tomlinson said the leadership contest is the “last-chance saloon” for the party to maintain credibility, while former cabinet minister Robert Jenrick, warned the Tories face “extinction…if we get this wrong”.

Opposition parties say that, whoever is handed the keys to Downing Street, a general election must be called immediately.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Conservative Party has “shown it no longer has a mandate to govern”, adding that British people “deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos”.

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Sydney Harbour Bridge pro-Palestine protest so busy it was ‘perilous’, police chief says

Published

3 hours ago

August 3, 2025

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Sydney Harbour Bridge pro-Palestine protest so busy it was 'perilous', police chief says

Tens of thousands of Sydney residents marched across the city’s iconic Harbour Bridge to support Palestinians in Gaza and call for an end to the war.

The decision to centre the protest on such an iconic landmark was controversial. The bridge is considered a symbol of unity in the city.

However, the Israel-Hamas war has been deeply divisive in Australia and increased tension between the country’s Jewish and Muslim communities.

On Sunday there were pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney.

In Sydney organisers hoped 50,000 people would attend, despite heavy rain.

In the end, the bridge and the central business district were so packed – and the weather so bad – that police and organisers called the march off mid-way, fearing there would be a crush in the crowd.

Police said the crowd numbers in the Sydney Harbour Bridge march were “far greater” than expected, creating the risk of a crowd crush.

“It was perilous,” said senior officer Peter McKenna, adding his force was “very lucky the crowd was well-behaved”.

The final figures for the number of people who attended haven’t been released. But it was an impressive turnout in the tens of thousands.

Some of those attending the march, called by its organisers the March for Humanity, carried pots and pans as symbols of the hunger in the besieged enclave of Gaza.

There was also a surprise guest, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

He has largely kept a low profile since his release from a British prison last year. He didn’t speak to the crowd, but he was among those leading the march.

However, the demonstration almost didn’t happen after New South Wales police tried to stop it from taking place on the Harbour Bridge.

On Saturday, the country’s Supreme Court ruled it could go ahead.

Despite the rain, there were families with children and seniors as well. It was a true cross-section of Australian society.

One of the protesters, Sarah, drove up from the Blue Mountains outside Sydney to attend.

She said, “enough is enough” and the Australian government should take “stronger action”.

Sarah also said Australians want people to know they care about what’s happening in the world.

Australia has not joined France, the UK and Canada is announcing plans to recognise a Palestinian state in September.

The government here says recognition is a matter of “when not if”. But it has not committed to any timeline.

Public pressure is growing on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to take a stronger stand against the war. So far, he has largely resisted that pressure.

But the government’s language towards Israel is becoming more critical.

World

Just 36 aid trucks entered Gaza yesterday, Palestinian officials claim – short of 600 needed

Published

9 hours ago

August 3, 2025

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Just 36 aid trucks entered Gaza yesterday, Palestinian officials claim - short of 600 needed

Just 36 aid trucks entered Gaza on Saturday – despite the humanitarian situation in the enclave worsening, Palestinian officials have warned.

According to the Gazan government’s media office, most of the humanitarian supplies were looted and stolen – “as a result of the state of security chaos that the Israeli occupation systematically and deliberately perpetuates”.

Officials say at least 600 truckloads of aid are required on a daily basis, adding: “The needs of the population are worsening.”

A statement released late last night called for “the immediate opening of crossings, and the entry of aid and infant formula in sufficient quantities” – and “condemned in the strongest terms the continuation of the crime of starvation”.

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, refuted this – and accused Hamas of “stirring up a slanderous propaganda campaign against Israel”.

He said: “The cruelty of Hamas has no boundaries. While the State of Israel is allowing the entry of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, the terrorists of Hamas are deliberately starving our hostages and document them in a cynical and evil manner.

“The terrorists of Hamas are deliberately starving the residents of the Strip as well, preventing them from receiving the aid.”

It comes as the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza said its headquarters in Khan Younis were hit by an Israeli strike, killing one staff member and injuring three others.

Footage posted on social media shows a fire broke out in the building.

Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel for a 60-day ceasefire, and a deal for the release of half the hostages still held in Gaza, ended in deadlock last week.

US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy told the families of the hostages yesterday that he was working with the Israeli government on a plan that would end the war.

Steve Witkoff claimed that Hamas was willing to disarm to stop the conflict, despite the group’s repeated statements that it would not do so.

In response, Hamas said it would not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as its capital.

After Mr Witkoff’s meeting with the families of the hostages, Hamas released two videos of an emaciated Israeli hostage, Evyatar David, who was abducted from the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023 and has been held in captivity in Gaza since.

The 24-year-old looked skeletal, with his shoulder blades protruding from his back. He was heard saying that he had not eaten for three days. The distressing videos show him digging his own grave, he said in the footage.

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Videos of emaciated Israeli hostage Evyatar David released by Hamas

Published

9 hours ago

August 3, 2025

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Videos of emaciated Israeli hostage Evyatar David released by Hamas

Two videos of an emaciated Israeli hostage, Evyatar David, have been released by Hamas, after US special envoy Steve Witkoff this week met with the families of the hostages.

The now 24-year-old looks skeletal, with his shoulder blades protruding from his back, and says he has not eaten for three days.

The distressing videos show him apparently digging his own grave.

He worked in a restaurant, according to a video posted by Labour Friends of Israel, before he was abducted from the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023.

Since then, he has been held in captivity in Gaza, and the videos suggest he is being kept in dark tunnels and surviving on scarce portions of lentils and beans.

Gaza itself is suffering “man-made mass starvation” because of Israel’s blockade on aid to the enclave, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has previously said.

In the second video, released on Saturday, Mr David – according to the English subtitles – says: “I haven’t eaten for three days.”

The captions continue as he speaks while in an underground tunnel: “There’s no [sic] enough food. I barely get drinking water.”

The video shows him talking through what he ate in July, which has been recorded on a handmade calendar hung up on the side of an underground Gaza tunnel.

Speaking while under captivity and under duress, he adds: “They give me what they can get.”

At the end of the video, he is digging a hole. The subtitle reads: “This is the grave where I think I’m going to be buried in. Time is running out.”

He then appears to break down, crouching on the floor and leaning his head on his arm while still clinging to the shovel.

In a statement, his family said: “We are forced to witness our beloved son and brother, Evyatar David, deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza – a living skeleton, buried alive.

“Our son has only a few days left to live in his current condition.”

They added: “Israel and the international community must oppose Hamas’s cruelty and ensure that our Evyatar immediately receives proper nutrition.

“The intentional starvation, torture, and abuse of Evyatar for propaganda purposes violate even the lowest standards of humanitarian law and basic human decency.”

‘Famine’ looms in Gaza

On Friday, US special envoy Steve Witkoff visited a site where the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has been distributing food in Gaza.

The controversial GHF scheme has been widely condemned, including by the UK government, after fatal shootings ever since it was set up earlier this year.

According to the United Nations’ human rights office, at least 859 people have been killed “in the vicinity” of GHF aid sites since late May.

The Israel Defence Forces has repeatedly said it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians” and has blamed Hamas militants for fomenting chaos and endangering civilians.

Meanwhile, the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IFSPC) this week said a “worst-case scenario of famine” was sinking in across the besieged enclave.

It has also said more than 20,000 children have been treated for acute malnutrition since April.

Families of the 50 hostages still in Gaza are concerned they are also starving, and blame Hamas.

On Saturday, Gaza’s health ministry said a further seven Palestinians had died of malnutrition-related causes in the past 24 hours, including a child.