When we finally get a General Election (and my sources tell me December seems highly unlikely), Boris Johnson may have to spend a lot more time in his constituency campaigning than PMs generally do.
He has a majority of only 5,034 — down from 10,695 in 2015.
Although there has been speculation about a Tory electoral pact with the Brexit Party, that seems a non-starter after Nigel Farage so roundly trashed Johnson’s proposed deal to leave the EU last week.
Westminster gossip has it that Richard Tice, multi-millionaire businessman and chairman of the Brexit Party who was elected an MEP in May, will stand against Boris in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency
Now I hear the Farage storm troopers are definitely fielding a candidate against the PM.
Westminster gossip has it that Richard Tice, multi-millionaire businessman and chairman of the Brexit Party who was elected an MEP in May, will stand against Boris in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency.
‘I have decided that I will stand for Parliament,’ Tice told me yesterday.
However, when challenged about the growing rumours that it could be against the Prime Minister, he was less forthcoming: ‘I’m not confirming or denying. You can speculate all you like. I’m not going to tell you.’
I suspect that’s a ‘yes’ then.
When we finally get a General Election (and my sources tell me December seems highly unlikely), Boris Johnson may have to spend a lot more time in his constituency campaigning than PMs generally do
Overheard in a Commons bar: ‘Could someone from the SNP stick bagpipes under [SNP Leader in the Commons] Ian Blackford’s arm so he can make better use of all the hot air he expels? He is an embarrassment to Scotland.’
Annunziata Rees-Mogg, a Brexit Party MEP (and sister of Leader of the House Jacob), might be forgiven for feeling a little paranoid.
‘Thanks Eurostar. Train cancelled, your staff refused me permission to go through to sit down despite being five months pregnant,’ she fumed in a tweet after the high-speed line was closed on the French side, frustrating her efforts to get back to Blighty.
Annunziata Rees-Mogg, a Brexit Party MEP (and sister of Leader of the House Jacob), might be forgiven for feeling a little paranoid
‘One kind woman eventually took pity and let me through. Others not so lucky. Very poor customer care.’
Surely not a dastardly plot to thwart the Farage army?
Labour Brexit spokesman Sir Keir Starmer took time off last month to earn £6,678 for 25 hours of advice to a City legal firm.
Since June, the former Director of Public Prosecutions has devoted 70 hours to working for law firms and trousered £20,000.
Perhaps Labour’s Brexit policy wouldn’t be such a shambles if he was more focused on the day job?
Buckingham Tories have exacted exquisite revenge on their retiring MP John Bercow who, as Speaker, has shamelessly sabotaged Brexit at every turn.
Relations between them and Bercow had become so fraught that the party announced it was selecting a new candidate to force his resignation.
They have chosen Greg Smith, a former councillor — and a prominent Brexiteer — to stand in his place.
Buckingham Tories have exacted exquisite revenge on their retiring MP John Bercow who, as Speaker, has shamelessly sabotaged Brexit at every turn
A former Territorial Army officer who was a mean kickboxer, Ruth Davidson presided over a huge revival in the party’s fortunes as leader of the Scottish Tories.
She stood down in the summer and will leave the Scottish Parliament in 2022 to spend more time with her wife and son.
Would she consider running for the Tory leadership at Westminster if Boris Johnson goes? Davidson, who’s taken a £50,000 part-time post with a City PR firm run by ex-Tory chairman Lord Feldman, gives an enigmatic reply.
‘I don’t have a ten-year plan,’ she tells the London Evening Standard. ‘Whether there is a second act, I don’t really know. But I would suggest a lot of people have second acts.’ Watch this space…
A former Territorial Army officer who was a mean kickboxer, Ruth Davidson presided over a huge revival in the party’s fortunes as leader of the Scottish Tories