Boris Johnson will ‘just say no’ if Theresa May tries to demote him in a reshuffle, allies warned today.
The Prime Minister raised the prospect of a major revamp of her top team over the weekend, as she tries to reassert her authority after the Tory conference horrorshow.
Mr Johnson is thought to be in the firing line after he helped throw the gathering into chaos with leadership manoeuvring. One option would be to shift him to Defence Secretary.
But Conservative Brexiteers have hit back by insisting Chancellor Philip Hammond should be the one to get the bullet.
Mr Johnson is thought to be in the firing line after he helped throw the gathering into chaos with leadership manoeuvring. One option would be to shift him to Defence Secretary.
The Prime Minister, pictured going to church in her Maidenhead constituency with husband Philip yesterday, has indicated she will not shy away from reshuffling her top team
One minister reportedly warned that Mr Johnson would not accept being moved to a less senior position. ‘He’d just say no – what is she going to do about it?’ the ally told the Telegraph.
However, Mr Johnson complained that he was a victim of briefing by ‘sinister’ people. ‘They do not speak for me,’ he posted to the Tory Mp WhatsApp group.
In an interview yesterday, Mrs May responded to reshuffle questions by insisting she would not ‘hide from a challenge’.
She admitted her nightmare conference speech – which saw her handed a P45 by a prankster before a sore throat rendered her unable to speak – had been ‘uncomfortable’.
But she insisted she never considered abandoning the address because she is ‘not someone who gives up’.
Asked what she might do with the Foreign Secretary in a reshuffle, Mrs May told The Sunday Times: ‘It has never been my style to hide from a challenge and I’m not going to start now.’
However, Mrs May faced growing pressure to remove Mr Hammond, who is nicknamed ‘Spreadsheet Phil’ for his dry demeanour, before next month’s Budget.
Critics of the Chancellor have accused him of limiting the ambition of the Government’s domestic policy agenda and attempting to keep Britain closely tied to the EU for years after Brexit.
Ahead of the June election, Mrs May had planned to sack Mr Hammond, and Downing Street aides held long discussions about how she would handle his ousting, but she scrapped the idea after losing her majority.
Nadine Dorries, a staunch supporter of Mr Johnson, became the first backbencher to publicly call on the Prime Minister to revive her plan.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond and his wife Susan Williams-Walker arriving at the Conservative Party Conference last week
Mrs May’s conference speech was blighted by a persistent cough (pictured taking a lozenge from Mr Hammond)
She told ITV’s Peston on Sunday: ‘If I were the Prime Minister, the person I would be demoting or certainly sacking would be Philip Hammond.
‘She very much wanted to do that before the election was called because I don’t think he’s been completely on board.
‘I think he’s been deliberately trying to make the Brexit negotiations difficult, stall them, obfuscate the issues, I just don’t think he’s been 100 per cent on board.’
Another Tory MP added last night: ‘The backbenchers are livid with Hammond because he pushed and shoved over the summer to water down Brexit.
‘But also, everybody thinks he is too pessimistic. We want to be upbeat and we just don’t think he’s helping. So there is a lot of anger.’