Boris Johnson was staying tight-lipped today after his resignation drama – as his former spin doctor predicted he will try to oust Theresa May.
The former Foreign Secretary has been spotted at his London home and at Parliament this afternoon after quitting in protest at the PM ‘third way’ Brexit plan.
Despite a growing clamour from Tory Eurosceptics for a move against Mrs May, aides are adamant he is not planning anything immediate.
Guto Harri, who was his press chief, said he was certain Mr Johnson will mount a challenge for the leadership soon.
Boris Johnson has been spotted at his London home (pictured) and at Parliament this afternoon after quitting in protest at the PM ‘third way’ Brexit plan
Boris Johnson (pictured arriving at the official Foreign Office residence in Carlton House Terrace this evening) said the PM’s Brexit plans risks turning Britain into a ‘colony’
Mr Johnson (pictured arriving at the official Foreign Office residence in Carlton House Terrace this evening) took the nuclear option by sensationally quitting. No other cabinet ministers followed him out, but Tory vice chairs Maria Caulfield and Ben Bradley have also quit
Mrs May vowed defiance today as she gathered her new-look Cabinet after filling the holes left by the departures of Mr Johnson and David Davis
But he warned that the MP, whom he worked for as London Mayor, was in danger of going past his sell by date.
Mr Harri said Mr Johnson risked becoming an ‘old boxer’ who was ‘getting back in the ring when he shouldn’t’.
He also cautioned that the ex-Cabinet minister’s band of supporters appeared to be ‘diminishing’.
‘I would never underestimate Boris, but he’s now in grave danger of becoming the old boxer too desperate not to get back in the ring when he shouldn’t,’ he wrote in an article for GQ magazine.
‘I’ve little doubt he will challenge, and he’ll do so while his diminishing band of supporters are screaming for a spectacle.
‘But the last Conservative leadership race did terrible damage. Another could be a sorry sight.’
Mrs May vowed defiance today as she gathered her new-look Cabinet after filling the holes left by the departures of Mr Johnson and David Davis.
The Prime Minister praised the ‘productive’ first meeting with her reshaped team as she tries to draw a line under the furore.
She also confirmed that the White Paper setting out her controversial Brexit plans will be published on Thursday.
Mrs May scrambled to fill the holes in Cabinet last night with a series of radical moves – shifting Jeremy Hunt to Foreign Secretary and Dominic Raab into the key Brexit Secretary role.
Matt Hancock has been promoted from the Culture department to Health Secretary as the premier digs in for an attritional battle with Eurosceptics.
Tweeting a picture of the Cabinet meeting, Mrs May said: ‘Productive Cabinet meeting this morning – looking ahead to a busy week. And sending our best wishes to @England for tomorrow!’
Downing Street said ministers ‘discussed the forthcoming publication of the White Paper on the future partnership with the EU and how no deal with is being stepped up’.
The meeting also covered Salisbury, the Nato summit and ‘formally congratulated the England team’.
In a boost for Mrs May, it emerged last night that the chair of the powerful Tory 1922 committee has yet to receive the 48 letters from MPs needed to trigger a no-confidence vote.
But although she has weathered the initial shock of the resignations, furious Brexiteers have warned that a challenge could come within weeks unless she changes policy.
Andrew Bridgen today became the first Tory MP to publish a letter he has sent to the 1922 chair Sir Graham Brady calling for a confidence vote.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the Eurosceptic ERG bloc of Tory MPs, has also warned that up to 100 MPs are ready to vote down her proposals if they come before Parliament.
Guto Harri (right) pictured with Mr Johnson at a book launch before he entered government
Guto Harri (pictured centre today) said Mr Johnson risked becoming an ‘old boxer’ who was ‘getting back in the ring when he shouldn’t’