Popularity leaves Boris Johnson’s return open

An Opinium poll conducted in mid-August indicated that more than 60% of activists answered that they would “perfectly” choose Johnson over candidates Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak.

In another YouGov study for Sky News also this month, Johnson garnered 46% of likes, roughly as much as Truss (24%) or Sunak (23%) combined, while 55% of participants spoke out against leaving him.

This is despite the fact that the party itself, with more than 50 members of the government resigning, forced the Tory leader to resign, following a series of scandals and doubts about the integrity of the chief executive.

Last Tuesday, under pressure from journalists during a visit to promote the expansion of broadband internet in rural areas of the country, over refusing to run for prime minister again, Johnson did not concede.

He replied, “I think most people in this country care more about their high-speed internet connection than they do about one political fate or another.”

The campaign led by Peter Crodas, a millionaire and member of the House of Lords, reached nearly 9,000 signatures so that the militants could reverse Boris Johnson’s resignation.

Johnson himself was ambiguous, when he said goodbye to MPs in July with “hasta la vista, baby” [até à próxima]the famous phrase from the movie “Terminator 2”.

In another famous scene from the movie, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character also announced that he would be back. [“I’ll be back”]But Johnson did not repeat that line.

“I think there is a clear possibility” of Johnson’s return, Lord Conservative Jonathan Marland told the BBC, anticipating a scenario in which the party, after losing the legislative elections, would look for “a leader who wins the election and Boris has it.”

Former colleague Rory Stewart, who has since become a bitter contender, believes Johnson could follow in the footsteps of Italian Silvio Berlusconi or Pakistani Imran Khan, both of whom have fallen from grace but have publicly announced their desire to return to active duty.

“He’s going to be walking around waiting for a comeback in popularity,” Stewart said in an interview with The Guardian.

The former political editor of the British newspaper, The Sun, Trevor Kavanagh, warned that Johnson’s return to power “would be a disaster for the Conservative Party, for the country and for Boris himself.”

Despite admiration among the Conservative Party, Pogo, as it is known, has divided opinions and many Britons do not forget the many pitfalls that were made, such as the “Partygate” scandal of illegal parties in Downing Street during the Covid-19 pandemic.

For the current prime minister to remain available, he needs to remain in Parliament as an MP, as Theresa May did in 2019.

But a parliamentary inquiry into whether MPs have been lied to about Downing Street parties during the pandemic could lead to the suspension and loss of their posts.

In contemporary British history, only two Prime Ministers have returned to office for the second time, Conservative Winston Churchill and Labor Harold Wilson, but both remain leaders of their parties and the opposition between the two terms.

Boris Johnson is expected on Tuesday to submit his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II, which will happen for the first time in his 70-year reign at Balmoral Castle in northern Scotland rather than Buckingham Palace in London.

Johnson’s successor, the 15th head of government under Elizabeth II, will also be received in Scotland on Tuesday by the king, who will then have to nominate the new prime minister (or prime minister) to form a new government. The leader of the party that enjoys a parliamentary majority.