The former London mayor Boris
Johnson has long been making sure he's the man his party will turn to in its
hour of need.
According to report, Boris
Johnson signed a letter last week saying that whatever the result in the EU
referendum David Cameron should remain as Prime Minister, seemingly making it
clear that he's not interested in a post-Brexit coup.
Well, that's no longer
required.
Last month I was in a hotel
bar in Exeter while Mr Johnson was holding court with a dozen journalists after
the first day of the Brexit Bus campaign through the West Country.
Mr Johnson thought this
unlikely and used this point to underpin the point that his stance on the EU
was in no way political opportunism.
But perhaps Boris wasn't
thinking about being asked to be in the Cabinet – rather he wanted to be the
one doing the asking.
The bus tour that day
around the West Country, like much of the campaign, has served to push up his
profile and arguably also his Conservative leadership credentials.
The campaign happened to
take place in many key Conservative marginal seats, and although he was
travelling with Labour MP Gisela Stuart – it was a Boris extravaganza.
As one journalist pointed
out "No one is calling it the Gisela Stuart Bus".
So following a quasi-prime
ministerial campaign Boris with asparagus, Boris with a pasty, Boris with ice
cream, he has potentially enlarged his fan base.
Conservatives are grateful
that he'd travelled to their town; that he was standing up for their concerns
about immigration and lost sovereignty to the EU.
Boris is next.
ReplyDelete