Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and ex-Chancellor Rishi Sunak have conducted three-hour face-to-face talks amid rumors that they could clinch a deal, according to the Daily Mail.
The two are the likely contenders in the race to become the UK’s next prime minister and they have yet to declare themselves in the contest to succeed Liz Truss, who announced her resignation on Thursday.
With few details emerged about Saturday evening’s “secret summit” between Johnson and Sunak, The Telegraph reported they were set to discuss “agreeing to a joint ticket” to avoid a Conservative Party “civil war”.
The talks followed BoJo cutting short a luxury stay in the Dominican Republic and returning home on Saturday in a bid to join the Tory leadership race as his allies argued that he was “up for it.”
Also on Saturday, The Times quoted an unnamed cabinet source as saying that Sunak and House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt - who has already declared her desire to run - should unite to prevent Johnson from returning to Downing Street.
“We [the UK] just need someone competent to get us through these incredibly difficult times and that person can’t be Boris. Rishi and Penny need to talk about a deal. The priority has to be stopping Boris at all costs,” the source said.
In a separate development, Mordaunt made no mention of her own leadership bid in an article for Telegraph, instead stressing the need to “consolidate everything we've worked for over the last decade.”
This apparently means that Mordaunt, who is now well behind her rivals, seeks “to position herself the kingmaker in the leadership contest next week,” according to the Daily Mail.
Sunak is currently ahead in the race, with the public support of 128 MPs against Johnson’s 53 and Mordaunt’s 23. On Saturday, the ex-Chancellor allies questioned claims by the Johnson camp that BoJo had secured the backing of the 100 Tory MPs needed to make it to the next stage of the Tory leadership contest.