Boris Johnson could attempt a political comeback after the next election if the Tories perform badly at the ballot box, his former head of communications has claimed.
Speaking to Sky News, Guto Harri said the Conservative Party would be “insane” to oust another leader now and that Rishi Sunak was “the only game in town”.
But asked if his old boss could make a play for the leadership again, he replied: “You never know with Boris.”
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Mr Johnson became Tory leader – and prime minister – in 2019 after winning the backing of his party, and went on to get a large majority at the next general election, promising to “get Brexit done”.
However, controversies over lockdown parties held in Downing Street during the pandemic, and his handling of serious allegations against his deputy chief whip Chris Pincher, led to his downfall and his eventual exit come the summer of 2022.
The former PM had considered making another run for the leadership after the short and disastrous tenure of Liz Truss, with many MPs still backing him, but he decided against it at the last minute, allowing Mr Sunak to take the keys to Number 10.
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Asked about the prospect of Mr Johnson’s return, Mr Harri said the former leader was “putting hay in the loft” and “enjoying what other people with his kind of educational background do, which is make a lot of money”.
He added: “I actually think that the party would be insane now to topple yet another leader. If four leaders in four years isn’t enough, I don’t know what is.
“And the only game in town for the party, unless it’s to commit, you know, sort of mass suicide essentially, is to back Rishi Sunak, however they feel about him, however they feel about his role in the toppling of Boris.
“In the end, we have a very capable, very intelligent, very modern, dynamic sort of prime minister and they’ve got to back him.”
But Mr Harri said it could be a different story after the election, which is expected to happen next year.
“You never know with Boris,” he added. “You’ve got to compare him with historical figures like Lloyd George, who came back, and Churchill, who came back, and he himself left us all guessing when he said, ‘hasta la vista baby’.”
The top press chief said it was “all to play for” if the party united behind its leader at the next election, before adding: “One of the memorable phrases Boris uses is the party is like the Aztecs, you know, addicted to killing each other.
“Hopefully that sort of period in the party’s history is behind it for the sake of whoever is [at] the reins at whatever point in the future.”
A source close to Mr Johnson said the former prime minister “does not recognise the accounts in this podcast” and “has had no part in this podcast or in its contents”.
They added: “We would never comment on these matters and Mr Johnson deplores any attempt to do so.”
