Boris Johnson tipped for comeback in Red Wall seat to 'repay voters' after resignation as PM

Boris Johnson tipped for comeback in Red Wall seat to 'repay voters' after resignation as PM
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Tom Evans

By Tom Evans


Published: 07/09/2022

- 08:37

Updated: 14/02/2023

- 10:41

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been tipped to make a comeback as a Red Wall MP at the next general election

Mr Johnson formally resigned as PM on Tuesday, visiting the Queen at Balmoral Castle to confirm his Downing Street exit.

His successor, Liz Truss, was then invited to form a government and led her first Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.


But advisors to the man who "got Brexit done" are already looking to the future.

And there is said to be an acceptance among senior Conservative Party strategists that he could lose his Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat at the next general election.

Outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson makes a speech outside 10 Downing Street, London, before leaving for Balmoral for an audience with Queen Elizabeth II to formally resign as Prime Minister. Picture date: Tuesday September 6, 2022.
Boris Johnson formally resigned as PM on Tuesday
Stefan Rousseau

Prime Minister Liz Truss arriving at No.10 Downing Street on Tuesday
Prime Minister Liz Truss arriving at No.10 Downing Street on Tuesday
PHIL NOBLE

A big campaign effort from the Labour Party is also expected, as toppling the former PM would be a major electoral coup.

With that in mind, advisers are reportedly looking at whether Mr Johnson can move seats to a new constituency.

Journalist Christopher Hope reports that the idea of finding him a seat in the north of England has been touted, in a bid to allow him to rebuild his base.

This could be seen as a move from the Johnson camp to personally repay the support of former Labour-voters who backed the Tories for the first time in 2019.

In his piece for The Telegraph, Mr Hope quotes a friend as saying: “He might go for a northern seat.

"He has not resigned as an MP. I would think he would not fight Uxbridge, and he would in a northern seat, a big Brexit seat.

“That could be the comeback for him, and he could do that before the next election. It is a great solution.

"He feels an obligation to the Red Wall voters. He said at the last election ‘I understand that you have lent me your votes in the Red Wall seats’.”

Outside of politics, it is believed Mr Johnson will work on completing a biography of William Shakespeare, which he started in 2015.

Mr Johnson is also likely to work on his memoirs.

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