Chopper’s Politics: Boris Johnson is a Tory ‘campaigning asset’, says party chairman
Boris Johnson #BorisJohnson
Boris Johnson is a “campaigning asset for the Conservative Party” who can help Rishi Sunak ahead of next year’s general election, party chairman Greg Hands has said.
The comments will be seen as an olive branch to Mr Johnson after the former prime minister was removed from office by his own MPs less than a year ago in the wake of a series of scandals.
In an interview on Friday’s Chopper’s Politics podcast, Mr Hands made clear that the party is keen for Mr Johnson – who has been very active in recent weeks in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency – to help the party nationally.
Mr Johnson was reselected to fight the west London seat last March, scotching suggestions that he might seek a safer seat.
On a visit to Lewes in East Sussex ahead of Thursday’s local elections in England, Mr Hands said: “Boris is still an asset for the party”.
When it was pointed out that Mr Johnson was not campaigning nationally for the party, Hands replied: “We’ll see, we’ll see.”
Mr Hands – who is MP for Chelsea and Fulham – said he had seen at first hand the potency of Mr Johnson as a campaigner. “I’ve been out campaigning with Boris when he was mayor of London.
“I remember once when I got asked by the party to organise a walkabout down King’s Road in my constituency. I organised a walkabout for the hour he’s going to be with us [to] get halfway down the King’s Road.
“We never made it further than the newspaper seller outside Sloane Square Station. He was mobbed at that time. He’s very, very popular as mayor of London.
“He is definitely a campaigning asset for the Conservative Party. But we’ll have to see what Boris is going to do for the next election.”
Mr Hands is expecting the Tories to lose up to 1,000 seats next Thursday, based on independent forecasts.
Asked if Mr Johnson might help the party ahead of Thursday’s elections, Hands said: “That’s kind of down to Boris at the moment.
“He’s just been readopted as a candidate for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, and the party will support him in that. But we’ll have to see what Boris will want to do next year.”
Mr Hands paid tribute to Mr Sunak, who was appointed by Tory MPs as leader last October.
“Whenever I’m on the doorstep, I always find that mentioning Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister improves the conversation in my direction.
“Even people who like Boris are not exclusive to people who think Rishi’s doing a good job and like Rishi.”
Mr Johnson did not immediately comment on Mr Hands’ remarks when approached by The Telegraph on Friday.
Mr Hands also disclosed that he wants the party to have chosen a candidate to fight London mayor Sadiq Khan for the right to run City Hall by the end of July.
He said: “We’re going to be setting out the timetable for when that will happen, but we’ll have a candidate in place before the summer recess.”
Samuel Kasumu, a former aide to Mr Johnson in 10 Downing St, emerged this week as an early front runner with the support of ministers Grant Shapps and Steve Baker, and former home secretary Priti Patel.
Listen to Chopper’s Politics Podcast featuring interviews with Greg Hands MP, Maria Caulfield MP and Samuel Kasumu on Chopper’s Politics, The Telegraph’s weekly political podcast, using the audio player at the top of this article or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app.
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