Tory leadership contest: Robert Jenrick would be ‘pleased’ to have Boris Johnson in his shadow cabinet

Published

12 months ago

August 21, 2024

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Robert Jenrick has said he would be “delighted” to include Boris Johnson in his shadow cabinet if he won the Tory leadership contest.

The former immigration minister said the Conservatives need “the best people who are available” and he would be “pleased” to welcome back the former prime minister, should he want to return.

Mr Johnson was ousted from Number 10 in July 2022 after the Chris Pincher affair sparked a mass exodus from his government.

He later resigned as an MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, after a Commons inquiry determined he had lied to parliament over the partygate scandal.

Asked whether he would have Mr Johnson in his top team, Mr Jenrick told The Telegraph: “Yeah. I think what we need are the best people who are available in the Conservative family to be on the pitch, supporting us to be a strong Opposition, holding Keir Starmer to account for all of the failings that we already see, and ultimately winning the next general election.

“And if Boris wanted to be part of that, I’d be delighted.”

Mr Johnson has denied wrongdoing in relation to the Downing Street parties and accused the Commons of a witch hunt against him.

He briefly toyed with a return to frontline politics when Liz Truss’s short-lived administration collapsed, but dropped out of the race after concluding that he would not be able to unite the party.

Since leaving office he has made millions in speaking engagements and writes a column for the Daily Mail.

He did not stand as a candidate in the July general election but has not ruled out returning to politics in the future.

Mr Jenrick, who resigned as Rishi Sunak’s immigration minister last year, is vying to replace the former prime minister alongside Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Dame Priti Patel, Mel Stride and Tom Tugendhat.

Whoever wins faces the huge task of uniting the Conservative Party and trying to boost its standing in the polls after it suffered its worst general election defeat in history.

According to a poll of 805 Tory party members carried out between 2 August and 12 August, former home secretary Mr Cleverly is the most popular candidate to be the next party leader, with 26% supporting him.

He was followed by Ms Patel on 20%, Ms Badenoch on 14%, Mr Tugendhat on 11%, Mr Jenrick on 10% and Mr Stride on 4%, in the poll from Techne UK.

However, previous surveys have thrown up other results – and a consensus on a favourite has not emerged.

The current slate of six candidates will be narrowed down through votes among Tory MPs at the start of next month, with the contest eventually going down to a vote by the Tory membership when just two are left.

Politics

UK, Australia, Germany, Italy and New Zealand condemn Israel’s plan for new operation in Gaza

Published

7 hours ago

August 9, 2025

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UK joins four countries in condemning Israel's plan for new operation in Gaza

The UK and four allies have criticised Israel’s decision to launch a new large-scale military operation in Gaza – warning it will “aggravate the catastrophic humanitarian situation” in the territory.

The foreign ministers of Britain, Australia, Germany, Italy and New Zealand said in a joint statement that the offensive will “endanger the lives of hostages” and “risk violating international humanitarian law”.

It comes a day after Israel’s security cabinet approved an operation to take military control of Gaza City – and concluded a full takeover of the enclave is required to end the conflict.

It marks another escalation in the war in Gaza, sparked by the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023.

In their joint statement, the UK and its allies said they “strongly reject” the decision, adding: “It will endanger the lives of the hostages and further risk the mass displacement of civilians.

“The plans that the government of Israel has announced risk violating international humanitarian law. Any attempts at annexation or of settlement extension violate international law.”

The countries also called for a permanent ceasefire as “the worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding in Gaza”.

It comes as Sky News analysis has found that airdrops of aid are making little difference to Gaza’s hunger crisis, and pose serious risks to the population – with a father-of-two killed by a falling package.

Meanwhile, France, Canada, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations all criticised Israel’s plan for a full occupation of Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “expressed his disappointment” with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s in phone call on Friday after Berlin decided it would stop selling arms to Israel.

In a post on X, the Israeli prime minister’s office added: “Instead of supporting Israel’s just war against Hamas, which carried out the most horrific attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, Germany is rewarding Hamas terrorism by embargoing arms to Israel.”

US ambassador hits out at Starmer

Earlier on Friday, the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, criticised Sir Keir Starmer after he said Israel’s decision to “escalate its offensive” in Gaza is “wrong”.

Mr Huckabee wrote on X: “So Israel is expected to surrender to Hamas & feed them even though Israeli hostages are being starved? Did UK surrender to Nazis and drop food to them? Ever heard of Dresden, PM Starmer? That wasn’t food you dropped. If you had been PM then UK would be speaking German!”

In another post around an hour later Mr Huckabee wrote: “How much food has Starmer and the UK sent to Gaza?

“@IsraeliPM has already sent 2 MILLION TONS into Gaza & none of it even getting to hostages.”

Sir Keir has pledged to recognise a Palestinian state in September unless the Israeli government meets a series of conditions towards ending the war in Gaza.

The UK and its allies criticised Israel as US President JD Vance and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy met at Chevening House in Kent on Friday.

Mr Vance described a “disagreement” about how the US and UK could achieve their “common objectives” in the Middle East, and said the Trump administration had “no plans to recognise a Palestinian state”.

He said: “I don’t know what it would mean to really recognise a Palestinian state given the lack of functional government there.”

Mr Vance added: “There’s a lot of common objectives here. There is some, I think, disagreement about how exactly to accomplish those common objectives, but look, it’s a tough situation.”

The UN Security Council will meet on Saturday to discuss the situation in the Middle East.

Ambassador Riyad Mansour, permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, said earlier on Friday that a number of countries would be requesting a meeting of the UN Security Council on Israel’s plans.

Politics

BlackRock launching a SOL ETF in first wave would be ‘messed up’ — Analyst

Published

7 hours ago

August 9, 2025

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<div>BlackRock launching a SOL ETF in first wave would be 'messed up' — Analyst</div>

BlackRock hasn’t filed for a Solana ETF, but ETF analyst James Seyffart says they shouldn’t be allowed to jump in at the last minute after other issuers’ hard work.