Conservative leadership challenger Jeremy Hunt today refused to say whether Boris Johnson was “sincere” as he warned the prime minister he had “a big mountain to climb” in winning back Tory voters.
Hunt, who ran against Johnson for the Conservative Party leadership in 2019, has again refused to rule out another leadership challenge.
But the former cabinet minister insisted now was not the time to renew efforts to oust Johnson, and said he “hoped” the prime minister would lead the Conservative Party into the next general election.
Hunt’s comments will be seen as a warning shot to the prime minister – and a clear message to Tory MPs – that he is waiting in the wings if Johnson continues to stumble.
The tenth-ranked prime minister’s position has been seriously jeopardized by the Partigit scandal, which has fined him for breaking Covid-19 rules in Downing Street.
The results of this month’s local elections have heightened fears within Conservative ranks that the party could see so-called “blue wall” areas across southern England continue to collapse in the hands of the Liberal Democrats and Labor.
Johnson saw the Conservatives lose the electorate of Chesham, Amersham and North Shropshire to the Liberal Democrats at last year’s Westminster by-election.
The Conservatives also now face a battle for control of Tiverton and Honiton after the recent resignation of porn watch Tory MP Neil Parish.
In the May 5 council elections, the Conservatives lost control of 11 councils – with many of those councils ceding to the Liberal Democrats and Labor – and the Conservatives also suffered the loss of nearly 500 seats in the council.
Jeremy Hunt has insisted now is not the time to renew efforts to oust Boris Johnson, and said he ‘hopes’ the prime minister will lead the Conservatives into the next general election.
10th Prime Minister’s job has been seriously jeopardized by the Partygate scandal, fined over Covid for breaking rules in Downing Street
Mr Hunt, a former foreign secretary and former health secretary, confirmed today that he could seek a return to the highest level of government.
But he said the Ukraine war should provide “point of view” on the frantic speculation about the prime minister’s leadership in the wake of Partij’s party.
“I’ve said many times that I don’t rule out returning to frontline politics myself,” he told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme.
But I don’t think now is the right time. Britain was the strongest member of the Western Coalition facing the first major European war of our lives.
I think the only person who would rejoice if we had a several-month gap in leadership in Britain would be Vladimir Putin.
So I don’t think this is the right moment for these discussions.
The South West Surrey MP has questioned the prime minister’s ability to prove another Conservative vote-winner, insisting it would be “wrong” to regard the party’s losses in local elections as “mid-term blues”.
He added: “The reason people vote for the Conservative Party is because they want economic growth, they want healthy money, they want the prospect of lower taxes for their families.
None of these things are true at the moment. So the government’s absolute priority should be to shift from a high-inflation, low-growth economy to a low-inflation, high-growth economy.
When asked if Mr Johnson was the best person to be Conservative leader, Mr Hunt replied: ‘I hope he can turn things around because I don’t think this is the right moment for a leadership contest.
But I will say this, I believe that the outcome of the upcoming elections will not be decided on the basis of personalities, but rather on which party has the best long-term plans.
How do we defend democracy in a world where China is a bigger economy than the United States? How do we spread wealth? How do we fix long-term problems in the NHS?
Hunt also dodged the question of whether Johnson was an “honest man”.
“It’s not a helpful thing to talk about personalities,” he said, adding: “It’s a simple question but it’s not a helpful thing when I just said we need to acknowledge that the international situation is very serious and we need strong leadership from our prime minister.”
Mr Hunt called on his fellow Conservative MPs to “support the prime minister in the situation we’re in”, describing how Ukraine has made it “impossible not to set the record straight”.
He hoped the party could “turn things around under the prime minister’s leadership”.
Asked if this meant he supported Mr Johnson to lead the Conservative Party into the next general election, due in 2024, Hunt replied: “I very much hope so.”
Hunt, who ran against Johnson for the Conservative Party leadership in 2019, has again refused to rule out another leadership challenge.
Mr Hunt, pictured with his wife Lucia, dodged a question about whether Mr Johnson was an ‘honest man’
Pressed on whether he would prefer to be Conservative leader as the party sought to retain its majority in the House of Commons, he added: ‘I know you’d like to create a motion I want something different, but I really hope we can (turn things around).
But I also hope we realize that in order to do that, we have a big mountain to climb in terms of regaining the support of many of our core voters – not just in the south of England, but especially in the south of England – who are deeply concerned about the situation we are in.
The Democrats MP Sarah Olney described Mr Hunt as “too cowardly to say what anyone else in Britain thinks” over the prime minister’s sincerity.
“Boris Johnson is a serial liar who is not fit to rule this country,” she added.
It is time for Jeremy Hunt to do his patriotic duty and call up Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.
As an MP for Surrey, he must know the utter outrage that former Conservative strongholds have felt in this government.
“From Chesham and Amersham to the results of last week’s local elections, the public is clearly fed up.”
