Boris Johnson has used his resignation statement to launch an all-out assault on Rishi Sunak – amid speculation that he could try and make a comeback.
The former prime minister, who quit over a watchdog investigation into his conduct, said he was leaving parliament, but qualified the decision as being “for now”.
He blasted Mr Sunak’s leadership, suggesting that the prime minister’s administration was “afraid to be a properly Conservative government”.
And he criticised decisions taken by the PM, including the move to row back on plans to scrap EU laws and seek a free trade agreement with the US.
Mr Johnson’s statement – which ran to more than 1,000 words – will be seen by some as a personal manifesto and the platform for a possible future leadership challenge against the embattled Mr Sunak.
“Our party needs urgently to recapture its sense of momentum and its belief in what this country can do,” Mr Johnson said.
“We need to show how we are making the most of Brexit, and we need in the next months to be setting out a pro-growth and pro-investment agenda. We need to cut business and personal taxes – and not just as pre-election gimmicks – rather than endlessly putting them up.
“We must not be afraid to be a properly Conservative government.
“Why have we so passively abandoned the prospect of a free trade deal with the US? Why have we junked measures to help people into housing or to scrap EU directives or to promote animal welfare?
“We need to deliver on the 2019 manifesto, which was endorsed by 14 million people. We should remember that more than 17 million voted for Brexit.”
But to challenge Mr Sunak for the leadership of the Tories, Mr Johnson would have to return as an MP – either at the next election or at a by-election.
His former seat of Henley, which he represented from 2001 to 2008, has been left vacant after its MP John Howell announced he would not be standing again in 2024.
There has been speculation in recent months that Mr Johnson could try to make the switch from his Uxbridge and West Ruislip seat, which is more marginal and potentially vulnerable to a challenge by Labour.
Mr Sunak was partly responsible for the downfall of Mr Johnson’s administration, after he sensationally quit over the PM’s handling of sleaze, triggering the resignation of other ministers.
