Boris Johnson mocked Theresa May as a ‘slave’ to her powerful ex-aides Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, it was claimed last night.
The Foreign Secretary was accused of saying that the joint chiefs of staff had been in charge of No 10 before the Election – not the Prime Minister.
‘That’s modern slavery right there,’ he reportedly told a colleague, in a wounding reference to Mrs May’s high-profile campaign to eliminate modern-day slavery.
Theresa May, pictured with her husband Philip in Manchester ahead of the Tory Party conference was branded ‘a slave’ to her former aides Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy
Allies of Mrs May were furious at the jibe which was circulated by Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson, pictured, believes Mrs May only has a maximum of 12 months left in Number 10
Critics of Mr Timothy and Ms Hill, who were forced to quit in June after the Tories’ disastrous Election campaign, insist they had far too much influence over the Prime Minister.
But the alleged slavery jibe infuriated Mrs May’s allies last night, with one Minister saying: ‘Boris is just out of control.’ Allies of Mr Johnson sprang to his defence, with one saying they had ‘never heard him say such a thing’.
A new documentary – Boris Johnson: Blond Ambition, by Channel 4 News political editor Gary Gibbon and set to be broadcast tonight – reports that the Foreign Secretary privately believes that Mrs May will not remain as PM for long.
‘He thinks she’s got a year at most,’ said a friend.
Mr Johnson is said to realise he probably has just one more go at the top job as Tory Party members are already turning to a new generation of MPs to provide the next leader.
‘They think the whole Cabinet is tainted by the Election,’ one Tory MP has said.
There are also reports that Mrs May had first tried to manage Mr Johnson by issuing a Thatcher-style slap-down, but that later No 10 resorted to ‘an ego-stroking strategy’ to make him look like he was part of the trusted inner circle.
The claims came as Mr Johnson caused fresh speculation about his leadership ambitions by reopening Cabinet divisions over Brexit.
On the eve of the Tory conference in Manchester, he spelt out a series of red lines for talks with the EU.
He said he was not ready to stay tied to Brussels for ‘a second longer’ after the planned two-year transition period, which is due to end in March 2021.
In her speech in Florence last month, Mrs May fuelled suspicions of a fudge over the exact length of the transition by using the phrase ‘around two years’.
But in an interview yesterday, Mr Johnson said he would not accept further compromises on the issue, and warned that Brexit voters were feeling betrayed. ‘I got that from my own talking to people. Very strongly. What that teaches me is that really is it,’ he said.
Fiona Hill, left, and Nick Timothy were sacked following the disastrous election result
Allies of the Foreign Secretary said he has only one more attempt to overpower Mrs May
‘Rien ne va plus. Finito la musica. Then we come out. There can be no monkeying around.
‘Am I impatient about it, do I want to get it done as fast as possible? Yes, absolutely. Do I want the delay to go on longer than two years? Not a second more.’
Last month, Mrs May’s allies accused Mr Johnson of ‘back-seat driving’ over Brexit after he wrote a 4,000-word article setting out his views on the exit deal.
In tonight’s documentary, the Foreign Secretary is shown being reprimanded for a diplomatic gaffe during a visit to Burma this year.
As Mr Johnson recited lines from Rudyard Kipling’s Mandalay in the most sacred temple in the country – also known as Myanmar – British ambassador Andrew Patrick interrupted him mid-sentence.
The colonial-era poem, written through the eyes of a retired British serviceman in Burma, is considered offensive to the country. Mr Patrick is shown telling Mr Johnson that the poem is ‘not appropriate’.
lBoris Johnson: Blond Ambition is on Channel 4 at 10.05pm tonight.