Rishi Sunak says he and Boris Johnson are speaking again after major falling out
Hopes grow for Boris Johnson Tory comeback as Rishi Sunak says the pair have talked very recently about the risk Labour's Sir Keir Starmer would pose to the UK's security.
Rishi Sunak has revealed that he is speaking to Boris Johnson once again after the pair badly fell out over the former prime minister’s exit from Downing Street.
Mr Sunak was accused of stabbing his predecessor but one in the back in 2022, when he sensationally resigned as chancellor with a blistering letter attacking Mr Johnson’s conduct in office.
Mr Johnson was being pilloried at the time for his response to the partygate lockdown gatherings in Downing Street, for which he and Mr Sunak were fined.
The former London mayor also faced fury over the Chris Pincher scandal and what he knew of concerns raised about the former MP’s behaviour.
The resignations of Mr Sunak and Sajid Javid, then the health secretary, started a flurry of ministerial exits that eventually led to Mr Johnson being forced from office.
Rishi Sunak explains why he called a general election
However, in an interview for The Telegraph’s Daily T podcast, Mr Sunak indicated that the pair might be on the way to patching up their differences as a General Election looms.
Mr Sunak told hosts Camilla Tominey and Kamal Ahmed: “When it comes to Boris, I’m very proud of the things that we did together.”
Asked if he was going to call on Mr Johnson to come back to help with the election campaign, the PM said: “We were in touch the other day actually, talking about the risk that Starmer would pose to our country’s security and the damage it would do … and I worry actually around Keir Starmer’s complacency around security”.
Mr Sunak said whether Mr Johnson joins the Tories on the campaign trail is a “question for him - he’s a busy guy”.
But the ex-PM’s presence could be a help to his successor but one, who is currently 20 points behind Labour in the opinion polls ahead of the July 4 vote.
Mr Johnson won an 80-seat majority for the Conservatives in 2019, with many feeling that his charisma would still benefit the Tories on the campaign trail.
However, after being forced out of No 10, he also quit Parliament after the Privileges Committee found that he misled the House of Commons over partygate.
