Sunak, Johnson Hold Talks amid Battle for UK Conservative Leadership

The meeting took place late on Saturday, the BBC and the Sunday Times reported, shortly after Johnson returned to London from a Caribbean holiday earlier in the day aiming to launch an audacious attempt to win a second term as prime minister, only weeks after he was forced to step down.

Neither of the men is yet to declare they will run to replace outgoing leader Liz Truss, who announced on Thursday she would stand down — just 44 tempestuous days into her tenure. The potential candidates have until 13:00 GMT on Monday to secure the backing of at least 100 Conservative Party legislators and enter the leadership race.

Few details have emerged about what The Sun dubbed a “secret summit” and the Sunday Times said was ongoing at close to 10:00pm (21:00 GMT). The Sunday Telegraph reported they were set to discuss “agreeing to a joint ticket” to avoid a Conservative Party “civil war”.

It is thought to be their first in-person discussions in months, following a spectacular falling out after Sunak’s resignation as finance minister in July helped trigger the government mutiny that ultimately prompted Johnson’s ousting.

Sunak is currently ahead in the race with the public backing of 128 legislators, compared with Johnson’s 53. Former Defense Minister Penny Mordaunt, who is the only Conservative Party member to formally declare her run, has about 23 nominations.

The leadership contest has been accelerated to take only a week. Under the rules, only three candidates will be able to reach the first ballot of legislators on Monday afternoon, with the final two put to a vote on Friday, which is limited to about 170,000 signed-up members of the Conservative Party.

Johnson had cut short a luxury stay in the Dominican Republic to join the tussle, with allies saying he was “up for it”. But the prospect of another premiership for the 58-year-old architect of Brexit is a polarizing issue for many in the Conservative Party, which is deeply divided after seeing off four prime ministers in six years.

Johnson had left Downing Street shrouded in scandal following a government revolt over a slew of scandals. He is currently under investigation by parliament’s Privileges Committee to establish whether he lied to the House of Commons over lockdown-breaking parties. Ministers found to have knowingly misled parliament are expected to resign.

“It is simply not right to risk repeating the chaos (and) confusion of the last year,” said David Frost, a formerly loyal minister appointed to the House of Lords by Johnson.

“We must move on”, he urged legislators, adding they “must get behind a capable leader who can deliver a Conservative program” who he identified as ex-finance minister Sunak.

Dominic Raab — Johnson’s deputy prime minister — echoed the comments, telling Sky News the imminent parliamentary inquiry into the “Partygate” scandal could prove too distracting.

“The job of any cabinet member, let alone the Prime Minister, is just relentlessly and consistently concentrating with a laser like focus on the British people — from the economy through to the NHS, schools, crime, immigration,” Raab said. “It’s difficult to see how you could do that, if at the same time you’re giving evidence, giving testimony, We’ll be caught back in the groundhog day the political soap opera of Partygate.”

Veteran backbencher Roger Gale has also warned that Johnson could face a wave of resignations from legislators refusing to serve under him again.

Meanwhile, in a crucial coup for Sunak, trade minister Kemi Badenoch, an influential Conservative Party member, said in a Sunday Times article that “he would be a great leader during a time of crisis”.

Johnson has nonetheless been endorsed by several Conservative Party heavyweights, including on Saturday ex-interior minister Priti Patel.

Meanwhile, posting a photo of Johnson on the phone to his Facebook, backbench Conservative Member of Parliament Lee Anderson revealed he was backing him after “a long chat about everything past and present”.

“My inbox is full of BBB,” he said, referring to the acronym and hashtag “Bring Back Boris” that is used by his supporters.

Although Johnson remains popular with party members who could decide the contest, polling shows he is broadly disliked by the electorate, with a YouGov survey finding 52 percent opposed his comeback. Another poll also found three in five voters now want an early general election, in line with demands from opposition parties, as Britons struggle with a worsening cost-of-living crisis.

Susie Bonieface, an author and columnist at the Daily Mirror, said a joint leadership bid by Sunak and Johnson was unlikely. “We need to remember these two men actually detest each other. They do not get on, they don’t see eye to eye,” she told Al Jazeera.

Most Britons do not want a Johnson comeback, she added.

“There’s lots of talk about whether it should be Boris, but most people in this country don’t want Boris Johnson to be Prime Minister. Most people in this country according to the surveys, and the polls, want there to be a change of government. They want a general election. They’ve had enough.”