‘They’re not there’: Do 100 MPs back Boris Johnson to enter UK PM race? | World news
Rishi Sunak’s supporters cast doubt on reports that Boris Johnson has secured the support of 100 Tory MPs – a key gateway into the UK Prime Minister’s race – as the two held talks on Saturday, a report said.
Boris Johnson’s campaign says he has the numbers to enter the UK Prime Minister race to replace Liz Truss who resigned this week.
The Sunday Times, BBC and Sky News cited an unnamed source close to the former prime minister as saying he had 100 supporters and therefore “could” be on the ballot.
Read more: No Boris Johnson, please: MPs not keen on former UK Prime Minister’s political comeback
When a reporter pointed out that Boris Johnson did not have 100 publicly declared supporters, Rishi Sunak’s supporter Richard Holden said: “It’s because they don’t exist,” The Independent reported.
India’s Rishi Sunak, the former president, has yet to officially stand in the leadership race that ends on Friday even though 110 members of parliament have publicly backed his candidacy.
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Meanwhile Boris Johnson is expected to make a surprise return to the position of Prime Minister as he flies back to London from a holiday following the political crisis in the UK.
Dominic Raab, the former deputy prime minister, backed Rishi Sunak, warning that the scandal-hit election of Boris Johnson would drag the government back into “Groundhog Day… a soap opera, of Partygate”.
