Sajid Javid backs Boris Johnson in Tory leadership race

Sajid Javid today finally broke cover to endorse Boris Johnson to be the next prime minister as he positioned himself to be chancellor with a pledge to ‘ramp up’ No Deal preparations.

The Home Secretary becomes the most senior member of the Cabinet to formally back Mr Johnson as the favourite’s grip on the race for Number 10 was strengthened still further.

Mr Javid has been tipped by many to be Mr Johnson’s man at Number 11 with previous reports suggesting he may have already been offered the job by Team Johnson.

But today he makes clear he wants to replace Philip Hammond in what many Tory activists will view as a potential leadership dream ticket. 

A number of candidates have made clear to Mr Johnson, pictured at a hustings event yesterday, that they want to be his chancellor but Mr Javid is now the favourite for the job

Mr Javid is expected to use a speech on Tuesday to set out his case as to why he should be put in charge of the Treasury’s purse strings. 

He will also commit fully to Mr Johnson’s ‘do or die’ No Deal pledge. 

He said: ‘Trust in our democracy will be at stake if we don’t make October 31 a ‘deal or no deal’ deadline. 

‘To prepare that, we are agreed on the need for ramped-up no-deal preparations, including a budget.’ 

Mr Javid’s endorsement came as it was claimed that Philip Hammond, the current Chancellor, had reportedly warned in private that Mr Johnson’s No Deal plans would cripple the economy and ‘crash the pounds’. 

Such language has previously only been reserved for Tory attacks on Labour over what the economic policies of Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell would do to the country. 

The fact that the remarks are aimed from one senior Conservative at another points to just how brutal a battle Mr Johnson can expect from his own backbenches to get a No Deal Brexit through Parliament. 

Mr Hammond is almost certain to be replaced at the Treasury regardless of whether it is Mr Johnson or his rival Jeremy Hunt who wins the race to succeed Theresa May. 

There have been plenty of candidates linked to Team Johnson eyeing the job, including Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Lix Truss, but it is Mr Javid who is the frontrunner. 

His serious approach to politics is viewed by many in Westminster as the ideal combination with Mr Johnson’s positive but sometimes chaotic approach. 

Writing in The Sunday Times, Mr Javid said that after a ‘few weeks to reflect’ on the Tory leadership race  he had come to a simple conclusion: ‘I will be voting for Boris.’

The Home Secretary said he believed he and the former foreign secretary ‘wholeheartedly’ shared the same vision for the UK and that Mr Johnson was ‘better placed to deliver’ than Mr Hunt. 

‘The other thing that I share with Boris is my optimism about our future,’ he said. 

‘Britain’s fundamental social and economic strengths have not changed. 

‘We really can and will make a success of the coming years.’

Mr Javid’s decision to back Mr Johnson’s campaign will strike a damaging blow to Jeremy Hunt’s (pictured yesterday at a hustings event in Cardiff, bid for Number 10

The Tory leadership race has entered a critical phase as Conservative Party members now start to vote for who they want to be the next prime minister. 

There are still two weeks to go in the race but with many activists expected to vote very soon after receiving their ballot paper, it is now or never for both candidates. 

Mr Johnson remains the prohibitive favourite for the top job with Mr Hunt increasingly viewed as an outside bet to secure the keys to Number 10.