Outgoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed not to back any Tory leadership contender and to spend his final weeks in No 10 delivering the “mandate” from the last general election, in his first official remarks after announcing his resignation last Thursday.
Speaking at London’s Francis Crick Institute on Monday, he said that “there's a contest under way and it's happened, and, you know, I wouldn't want to damage anybody's chances by offering my support”.
“I just have to get on and, in the last few days or weeks of the job, the constitutional function of the prime minister in this situation is to discharge the mandate, to continue to discharge the mandate, and that's what I'm doing,” he added.
BoJo also argued that whoever takes over as prime minister would have a “great agenda” to continue.
According to the PM, the government puts in “some pretty fantastic investments, not just in science but in infrastructure, in skills and in technology, that I think are going to enable us conservatives, I should say, to keep on with our program of leveling up and delivering for all the people in this country”.
He spoke after Foreign Secretary Liz Truss officially launched her leadership bid earlier on Monday, pledging to return to “core Tory principles”, and becoming the eleventh candidate to throw her hat into the ring.
Late last week, former Health and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt - who lost to Johnson in 2019 - as well as Sajid Javid, another former health secretary who stepped down along with former Chancellor Rishi Sunak earlier this week, announced that they are also joining the race.
This was preceded by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and new Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi entering the leadership contest alongside Sunak, Attorney General Suella Braverman, ex-Minister of State for Equalities Kemi Badenoch and the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Tom Tugendhat.
This followed the Sunday Times reporting that at least two rival campaign teams have handed the Labour Party “dirty” files containing allegations against their potential opponents, with the dossiers reportedly being packed with claims of S&M sexual kinks, extramarital affairs, the use of prostitutes, illicit drugs, and tax-evasion schemes.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg news agency has cited an unnamed source in the powerful Tory 1922 Committee as saying that the Conservative Party plans to reduce candidates to a final two by July 21, and have Johnson’s successor decided by September.
The source said that the process of selecting the final pair of candidates should be completed by July 21 because that is when MPs start their summer recess. According to the insider, it will then take about six weeks to complete the second part of the process, which will see grassroots Tories cast their ballots.
In his resignation speech on July 7, Johnson, who stepped down in the wake of a series of scandals, including the “Partygate” row, expressed sadness at quitting after nearly three years.
“To you, the British public: I know that there will be many people who are relieved and, perhaps, quite a few will also be disappointed. And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world,” he underscored.