Tories again Nadhim Zahawi as he admits ousting Johnson a mistake | Politics | News | EUROtoday

Conservative MPs backed former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi after he admitted the social gathering was flawed to oust Boris Johnson.

The ex-Cabinet minister stated he wished “spooked” Tories had held their nerve and caught with Mr Johnson.

Mr Zahawi additionally described the charismatic 59-year-old, who was pressured out of No 10 nearly two years in the past, as essentially the most “consequential” chief since Margaret Thatcher.

His feedback have been echoed by a string of different Tory MPs who spoke out in help of Mr Johnson.

Dame Andrea Jenkyns, a detailed ally of the ex-PM, stated: “Ousting Boris Johnson was a short-sighted mistake, echoing the missteps of those who turned against Margaret Thatcher.

“Just because the wets got here to rue their resolution to unseat Thatcher, at this time’s politicians will ultimately realise the void left by Boris’s absence.

“His return to frontline politics is not just desirable but necessary for the robust leadership Britain needs.”

Sir James Duddridge, one other loyalist, pointed to the Tories’ present polling woes.

He stated: “We are not even at 30% in the opinion polls. Conservative MPs who do not think it was a mistake to get rid of a coalition-building 80-seat majority colossus are either mad or have yet to come to terms with their part in Boris’s downfall.”

Sir Michael Fabricant added: “Of course Nadhim is correct. It is self-evident that the impetuous strikes by some within the parliamentary social gathering in eliminating Boris has led us to the place we’re at this time.

“People do not like disunited parties and the actions of a disloyal few have been a gift to Labour overshadowing all the achievements made both during and after Boris’s ‘reign’.”

Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries insisted the move had paved the way to victory for Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at the next general election.

She said: “Nadhim has voiced what everybody is aware of, eradicating essentially the most electorally profitable Conservative Prime Minister in a era, was an enormous mistake.

“It’s not just Nadhim, Angela Rayner and Labour MPs are incredulous that Conservative MPs did what they did and have probably handed Labour a general election win on a plate.”

Mr Johnson was pushed out of Downing Street in July 2022 following a sequence of scandals after Rishi Sunak’s resignation sparked a domino impact.

Mr Zahawi changed Mr Sunak as chancellor however publicly referred to as for Mr Johnson to go two days later.

In an interview with a Sunday newspaper, the Stratford-on-Avon MP stated: “I want we had held our nerve. Many colleagues obtained spooked.

“If colleagues had stepped back and just realised Twitter was not the country, we’d have probably made a very different decision.”

He revealed that he told the then-premier that “the herd was stampeding” and unless he was prepared to quit on his own terms “they are going to drag your carcass out of this place”.

On whether the Conservative Party would be in a better place if Mr Johnson had survived, Mr Zahawi added: “I don’t know that. I want we had held our nerve, sure.

“I genuinely felt that the combination of activists against Boris and our opponents were in many ways enjoying the parliamentary party getting so spooked. I think if people had just taken a breath, stepped back and audited the achievements.

“If you go back … how many prime ministers have had to deal with Brexit, a global pandemic and then obviously economic recovery beyond that: to cap it all, war on our continent, where he led the world.

“The nice girl [Thatcher] has been with me on this journey all through this profession on this place. Other than her, I can’t consider a extra consequential prime minister of his era.”

David Campbell Bannerman, a former Tory MEP and chairman of the Conservative Democratic Organisation, stated it was “a case of buyer’s remorse”.

He stated: “It’s clear now that those implicated in the coup to remove Boris are finally recognising what a disastrous move that was. They took us for being 2-4% behind Starmer in the polls to nearly 24%. Whatever faults Boris had he was an electoral winner and these MPs threw that all away to further their own careers. It is a scandal.”

It comes because the Conservatives have plummeted within the polls following Mr Johnson’s exit from Downing Street.

The former premier additionally stop as Uxbridge and South Ruislip’s MP final 12 months within the wake of a “witch hunt” probe into the partygate row.

But there may be ongoing hypothesis that he might make a sensational political comeback sooner or later.

The ex-prime minister vowed to loyal Daily Express readers “I’ll be back” after leaving Parliament.

There have been requires him to hit the marketing campaign path for the Tories within the Red Wall following a thawing of relations with Mr Sunak to assist hold Sir Keir out of No 10.

Mr Johnson led the social gathering to a landslide victory on the 2019 common election and is considered as a formidable campaigner.