Boris Johnson to allies: 'Back anyone, but Rishi Sunak'

London, July 15

As the race to become Britain's next PM gained pace, caretaker premier Boris Johnson has reportedly told his allies to back “anyone but Rishi Sunak”, according to a media report on Friday.

Johnson, who resigned as the leader of the ruling Conservative Party on July 7, has been urging defeated Tory leadership candidates not to back former chancellor Sunak, who is widely blamed for Johnson's loss of support among his own party members, The Times newspaper reported.

Johnson, who has said he will not endorse any leadership candidates or publicly intervene in the contest, is believed to have held conversations with failed contenders to succeed him and urged that Sunak should not become the PM. A source close to one of the conversations said the current PM appeared most keen on Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, endorsed by his fiercest cabinet allies, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nadine Dorries.

Johnson is also reportedly open to Penny Mordaunt, the junior trade minister, succeeding him instead of Sunak.

According to the report, caretaker PM Johnson and his camp are running an “anyone but Rishi” hidden campaign after feeling betrayed over the former Chancellor's resignation which precipitated his exit from 10 Downing Street. “They don't blame Saj (Sajid Javid) for bringing him down. They blame Rishi,” the newspaper quoted a source as saying.

With Rishi Sunak now firmly placed as the candidate to beat, the battle lines are drawn for second place in the race to replace Boris Johnson.

Sunak, who was the winner of the first two rounds of voting by Tory members, will appear for a series of televised debates over the weekend with his remaining opponents.

All eyes are now on who between Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt will clinch the No. 2 spot to go head-to-head with Sunak when the final two candidates have to campaign for votes among the Conservative Party membership around the UK from later next week. — PTI

Battle on to beat Rishi in PM race

• With Rishi Sunak now firmly placed as the candidate to beat, the battle lines are drawn for second place in the race to replace Boris Johnson.
• All eyes are now on who between Truss and Mordaunt will clinch the No. 2 spot to go head-to-head with Sunak when the final two candidates have to campaign for votes from later next week.

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