Rivals loom large as Boris Johnson’s long march to Downing Street begins
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Version 0 of 1. On 19 June Boris Johnson faced that awkward “now or never” reminder of mortality – his 50th birthday. The mid-life crisis hits us all. Some buy a sporty convertible, others trade in the spouse for a younger model. The mayor of London is marking his half-century by finally launching his big play to become prime minister. As he admitted during a BBC interview on Wednesday, he can no longer afford to “dance around”. Indeed, there is an ever-growing risk that the next Conservative leader will be some unknown fresh young “teenager” who will make a seasoned slugger like Johnson seem like yesterday’s maverick. The other threat is that a resurrected and relatively youthful chancellor of the exchequer could snatch the prize he so covets. George Osborne is indeed David Cameron’s preferred successor. Osborne is now a real threat to Johnson. He has managed the timing of the economic cycle to maximum electoral advantage – always the main task for the occupant of No 11. On a more tactical level, in last month’s reshuffle his expected leadership campaign manager, Michael Gove, was moved into the chief whip position where he has unparalleled access to, and influence over, backbench MPs. Gove’s time at the Department for Education revealed how combative he can be on the quiet but also the depth of his antipathy towards Johnson, reportedly describing him in March as having “no gravitas” and being “unfit to lead the nation”. Both Osborne and Cameron are relying on Gove to “keep Boris in his box”. Gove’s appointment was doubtless another spur for Johnson to make his move before the new chief whip had the chance to drop poison into the ear of every Tory MP. Johnson will need to work hard to turn around his reputation among the many Conservative MPs who see him as a disloyal and self-centred showman if he is to stand any chance of winning a future leadership bid. He must also fight off the ambitions of the home secretary, Theresa May, who now outranks him in the grassroots party popularity stakes. She has already started her rounds of the constituencies to garner support, and has profited from Johnson’s indecision on whether he would or would not return to parliament. She has also impressed the rank and file with her tough talking to the Police Federation, vowing to break its power and bringing to an end its closed-shop practices, sending many Tories of a certain age into ecstasies of Thatcherite nostalgia. No doubt Johnson was counting on his hard-talking about Europe this week – in which he said there was nothing to fear in Britain leaving the EU – having a similarly enthralling effect. It certainly seemed a calculated step towards a more hardline position, clearly targeted at the wavering Ukip vote, from a man who has previously declared himself in favour of staying within Europe, and who is often described by former colleagues as a “closet Europhile”. But then Johnson is not one to stick to unfashionable ideas once their sell-by date has passed, and he is also a master-manager of the media. From his Fleet Street experience he will have been aware that news editors would be desperate for a fresh agenda for the dog days of August, just as the horrors of Gaza and the Ukraine start to recede slightly. Once he had his audience, all that remained was to rehearse an apparently off-the-cuff “reveal” of his plans to return to parliament. Hair carefully mussed, suit slightly awry, he deadpanned the line he knew would guarantee his place on the front pages and in the comment columns for days and weeks to come. Project Downing Street is now well under way. |