Sunak says he speaks to Boris Johnson ‘on occasion’ and doesn’t rule out bringing him back
Rishi Sunak said he still speaks to Boris Johnson “on occasion” – and did not rule out bringing the former prime minister back into his cabinet.
Mr Sunak said he was “proud” of what the pair achieved before he became one of the first in a series of ministerial departures which ended in the former Tory leader’s downfall.
Asked in an interview with ITV whether he misses Mr Johnson, he said: “I’m proud of the work that we did together.
“And we worked well together for a long time. In the end there are, you know, well-documented differences”.
On whether he would consider offering a cabinet position to the ex-MP, as he did with David Cameron, Mr Sunak said: “Well, I never talk about these personnel things, but look, I, you know, I speak to him on an occasion.”
Pressed on when they last spoke, he said it was “late last year”.
Mr Sunak served as chancellor in Mr Johnson’s government for two years before resigning along with then-health secretary Sajid Javid in July 2022 over his handling of the Chris Pincher affair.
The move triggered a mass exodus of MPs from government and party roles, even leading to praise from some MPs that Mr Sunak had stabbed Mr Johnson “in the front”.
Mr Johnson’s leadership had already been hanging by a thread due to the fall-out from the partygate scandal.
After he resigned, a rivalry between Mr Sunak and his former boss then emerged as he embarked on a campaign for Mr Johnson’s job, with both vying to take back control of the Tory Party following Liz Truss’s short-lived tenure as PM.
Mr Johnson ultimately dropped out of the autumn leadership race and eventually quit as an MP after a parliamentary committee found he had lied to the House over partygate.
But he has made frequent interventions on the political scene, criticising the government over decisions ranging from Brexit to immigration and HS2.
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Sunak was honourable and ‘stabbed’ Johnson in the ‘front’
Later in the interview, Mr Sunak insisted plots against him are “minuscule” following reports of Tory MPs seeking to replace him as leader.
“I don’t think the country votes for divided parties,” he said, insisting that “the vast majority of our party is united”.
The prime minister also insisted his wealth is not an issue for voters and accused those who attack him over it of having a “lack of ambition for our country”.
Mr Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty, have a combined wealth estimated at about £529m, according to 2023’s Sunday Times Rich List.
Polling suggests the prime minister faces an uphill battle ahead of the general election expected later this year, with Labour currently enjoying a sustained lead of around 20 points.
“I think most people in our country are fair-minded,” Mr Sunak said.
“And you know what, if someone wants to attack that or make it a political smear, I actually think it says more about them and their ambition for our country, or lack of it, than it does about me and where I come from.”
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Politics
UK and France have ‘shared responsibility’ to tackle illegal migration, Emmanuel Macron says
Emmanuel Macron has said the UK and France have a “shared responsibility” to tackle the “burden” of illegal migration, as he urged co-operation between London and Paris ahead of a crunch summit later this week.
Addressing parliament in the Palace of Westminster on Tuesday, the French president said the UK-France summit would bring “cooperation and tangible results” regarding the small boats crisis in the Channel.
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King Charles III at the State Banquet for President of France Emmanuel Macron. Pic: PA
Mr Macron – who is the first European leader to make a state visit to the UK since Brexit – told the audience that while migrants’ “hope for a better life elsewhere is legitimate”, “we cannot allow our countries’ rules for taking in people to be flouted and criminal networks to cynically exploit the hopes of so many individuals with so little respect for human life”.
“France and the UK have a shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarity and fairness,” he added.
Looking ahead to the UK-France summit on Thursday, he promised the “best ever cooperation” between France and the UK “to fix today what is a burden for our two countries”.
Sir Keir Starmer will hope to reach a deal with his French counterpart on a “one in, one out” migrant returns deal at the key summit on Thursday.
King Charles also addressed the delegations at a state banquet in Windsor Castle on Tuesday evening, saying the summit would “deepen our alliance and broaden our partnerships still further”.
King Charles speaking at state banquet welcoming Macron.
Sitting next to President Macron, the monarch said: “Our armed forces will cooperate even more closely across the world, including to support Ukraine as we join together in leading a coalition of the willing in defence of liberty and freedom from oppression. In other words, in defence of our shared values.”
In April, British officials confirmed a pilot scheme was being considered to deport migrants who cross the English Channel in exchange for the UK accepting asylum seekers in France with legitimate claims.
The two countries have engaged in talks about a one-for-one swap, enabling undocumented asylum seekers who have reached the UK by small boat to be returned to France.
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Britain would then receive migrants from France who would have a right to be in the UK, like those who already have family settled here.
The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.
President Macron greets Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle at his address to parliament in Westminster.
Elsewhere in his speech, the French president addressed Brexit, and said the UK could not “stay on the sidelines” despite its departure from the European Union.
He said European countries had to break away from economic dependence on the US and China.
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“Our two countries are among the oldest sovereign nations in Europe, and sovereignty means a lot to both of us, and everything I referred to was about sovereignty, deciding for ourselves, choosing our technologies, our economy, deciding our diplomacy, and deciding the content we want to share and the ideas we want to share, and the controversies we want to share.
“Even though it is not part of the European Union, the United Kingdom cannot stay on the sidelines because defence and security, competitiveness, democracy – the very core of our identity – are connected across Europe as a continent.”
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