Boris Johnson’s allies have dismissed as unfounded claims that the UK Prime Minister skipped a conference of Northern Tory MPs for a trip to Ukraine over fears of being given a bad reception there.
The PM opted to pay a second surprise visit to Kiev to meet with Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, instead of attending the inaugural Northern Research Group (NRG) Conference in Doncaster on Friday. Furthermore, Johnson also scrapped a by-election campaign visit to Wakefield on Friday, despite warnings that his party was heading for a loss of this West Yorkshire constituency to Labour on 23 June.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace was quick to slam "a lot of rubbish being spouted" over the PM’s amended schedule.
Wallace went on Twitter to highlight that visits such as Johnson's latest one to Ukraine had to be organised in "total secrecy,” adding that “helping Ukraine win and trying to help at home are linked".
UK Treasury minister, Simon Clarke, echoed these sentiments, writing on Twitter that the PM was “leading high-level talks with the president of Ukraine”, and advised people criticising him to “check their priorities”.
‘Blindsided’ Tories ‘Disappointed’
Nevertheless, there is widespread speculation that Johnson blindsided his Conservative colleagues to avoid a jarring face-off in the northern “red wall” constituencies after the scandal of “partygate”.
The “red wall” (also known as Labour's heartlands) is a term used to describe constituencies in England and Wales - mainly in the Midlands, Northern England and North-East Wales - which historically tended to support the Labour Party, which is denoted by the colour red.
"The PM has shown what he thinks of the North. This was his moment to reset. Instead, it shows his contempt for us all. We were sceptical he would commit to anything - you have to believe in things in order to commit. But with 148 voting against, you think he’d show up," a senior NRG source was cited by UK media outlets as saying.
Sky News cited a “furious” Conservative MP at the conference as saying: "This is the first test of outreach to his colleagues and he's failed it."
A source close to conference organisers was cited by British media as describing the PM’s move as "a f****** slap in the face for the Red Wall".
A Conservative MP told the Express: "The Prime Minister obviously didn't watch Game of Thrones. Otherwise, he would know 'the North remembers'."
Jake Berry, leader of the NRG, said people were "disappointed" by Johnson's snubbing the event.
"We had 30-plus colleagues here and 400 members. What we have set out here today is hugely positive ideas from the North, for the North which are designed to appeal to those voters in Wakefield and across the North of England ... Whoever the Prime Minister is, whatever is in the Conservative Party manifesto, unless people feel good about what Conservatives are achieving in the North, it is going to be a very difficult election. I wouldn't run away from that,” Berry told Channel 4 News.
Another one taking part in the NRG gathering, Henri Murison, director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, described Johnson's decision not to attend as a "missed opportunity".
In response, Downing Street said Johnson met with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev to offer a major training programme for Ukrainian forces "to help sustain their heroic defence".
Previously, Boris Johnson was the first leader of a G7 country demonstratively to show support to the Kiev regime when he went there for the first time in April, after Russia launched its special operation to demilitarise and de-Nazify the country.
The PM’s latest trip came hot on the heels of a visit there by French President Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italy's leader Mario Draghi as Ukraine made a bid to join the EU.
The PM dodged a recent no-confidence vote targeting him over "partygate", initiated by the Tory backbench 1922 Committee. The measure came after civil servant Sue Gray's report exposed 16 cases of COVID-19 lockdown violations by cabinet officials in and around Downing Street in 2020-21.
The PM found himself slapped with a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) fine after Scotland Yard wrapped up its investigation into the alcohol-fuelled lockdown parties. However, despite surviving Tory rebellion, Johnson is at present facing a Commons Privileges Committee inquiry into whether he lied to parliament over “partygate”.
Against the backdrop of other complications, such as inflation and the cost of living crisis driven by soaring energy bills as well as the continuing controversy surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol amendment, Johnson’s Conservatives are bracing themselves for two critical by-elections on 23 June.
In Wakefield, a former safe Labour seat that the Tories claimed in 2019, analysts predict a “monumental” swing back to Labour. The second typically “safe” Conservative seat - in Tiverton in England's south-west – is being hotly contested by the Liberal Democrats.