Party Made The Wrong Decision By Forcing Boris Johnson Out?

Two-thirds of House of parliament reckon he can now make a political comeback, up from just 43 per cent who thought so at the start of last month.

Just over half of Conservative backers think Mr Johnson would make the best prime minister, while only 28 per cent say the same of Mr Sunak.

Majority of Tory voters now think the party made the wrong decision by forcing Boris Johnson out, a poll for The Telegraph has found. 

People who backed the Conservatives at the 2019 election show signs of seller’s remorse in a boost to the former prime minister’s comeback bid. 

The survey by Redfield & Wilton Strategies also shows that he is the best placed of the leadership hopefuls to take on Sir Keir Starmer and win. 

It came as Mr Johnson stepped up his campaign to return to 10 Downing Street, with allies claiming he had secured the 100 nominations needed to enter the race. 

His supporters will be buoyed by the results, which represent a remarkable turnaround for a politician who was written off just three months ago. 

The poll shows that 57 per cent of Tory voters believe it was the wrong move to get rid of the former prime minister at the start of the summer.

Boris Johnson also fares better among the wider electorate when asked who they would be more likely to vote for at the next general election. 

In a straight run-off against Sir Keir he trails by just three per cent, the poll shows, whereas the former chancellor is 11 per cent behind. 

When people were asked which party they would back, Labour led the Tories by 15 per cent with Mr Johnson in charge and 20 per cent if it were Mr Sunak. 

The results will come as a big boost to the former prime minister’s supporters who have argued he is the candidate who can reverse the party’s fortunes. 

“Boris has proved himself time and time again and I think the thing to remember is who does Labour fear most? It’s Boris,” said one MP backing him. 

“Keir Starmer has always said privately to his team that come the election the public would’ve forgotten about Partygate and it was Boris the personality they’d have to deal with.”