By FactsWow Team
Posted on: 26 Jul, 2022
An influential Tory warns Boris Johnson will be a 'permanent nightmare' for his successor, as No 10 distances itself from claims he aims to stay in power.
Lord Hague, a former party leader, and foreign secretary warned that no outgoing PM has ever been incredibly helpful to their successor.
He warned, however, that Johnson could cause more trouble than previous leaders due to his personality and the way he was removed. When a new Conservative Party leader takes over in September, Downing Street had to confirm that the PM would step down.
He resigned after an ally, the multi-millionaire donor Lord Cruddas, said he wanted to 'wipe away' his resignation to remain in office. Mr. Cruddas, a former Tory chairman, and peerage recipient said the PM wishes to continue.
A small rebellion wants to see Mr. Johnson challenge Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss. In the Times today, Lord Hague wrote: 'Our brutal parliamentary system, which removes heads of government by voters or MPs, makes the burden of being replaced even more difficult.
The consequences are particularly severe when the PM believes the electorate always supported him but that his MPs were too weak to support him - think Edward Heath or Margaret Thatcher.
'He will be Heath with jokes, and Thatcher without consistency, all rolled into a bundle of resentment, denial, attention-seeking, and attempted vindication that will be a permanent nightmare for the new prime minister.'
Boris Cruddas never had any ambiguities in his views, Lord Cruddas told the Daily Telegraph. He has no intention of resigning. As long as the membership supports him, he believes he can carry on.
Boris thanked me for putting him on the ballot. After watching it, he wished me well. The membership's anger was understood, he said. He wants to continue as Prime Minister. 'I don't want to resign,' he said.
'With a magic wand,' Johnson reportedly replied, 'I would wipe away everything that stops me from being PM in a second'.He wants to finish the job, Lord Cruddas said. In the next general election, he wants to lead the Conservative Party.
As a result of the comments, a No10 spokeswoman announced: 'The Prime Minister has resigned as party leader and stated his intention to step down as Prime Minister after the new leader has been elected.'
The Foreign Secretary declared that 'what has been done is done and that the outgoing prime minister would take a 'well-earned break'.In a BBC debate, Ms. Truss was asked if Mr. Johnson would have a job if she won the race against Rishi Sunak.
She said, 'Having talked with him this week about foreign affairs, I strongly suspect he does not want to be a part of the Government in the future. He deserves a well-earned break, given the difficult years of the last few years.'
He was seriously ill with Covid when we hadn't even discussed that, and that was a horrible moment we didn't know what would happen, he has faced real challenges, including the appalling war in Ukraine, so there is no way I can support that.
The decision has been made, and I have expressed my views about that. I have now put myself forward as a candidate to take on the role because I believe I'm the best candidate for the position and I don't think he would want further involvement.'
A further question from Ms. Truss prompted her to say that 'I am sure he will have a role, I am sure he will be vocal, but he will not be part of the government.'
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