Shapps says politics has ‘moved on’ from Johnson as he plays down talk of return

Energy Secretary Grant Shapps, who served in Mr Johnson’s cabinet, said he does not think the former Tory leader is in the “mindset” to fight the next general election.

It comes after Johnson ally Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said the ex-incumbent of No 10, who quit the Commons on Friday in protest against an MPs’ inquiry into partygate, could contest the next election for the Conservative Party and would be in “pole position” during a future leadership contest.

Sir Jacob said, in an article for the Mail On Sunday, there could be a Tory “civil war” if the party tried to “block” him from standing.

Mr Shapps told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: “There is no kind of chance of him coming back and saying, ‘Right, now I’m going to stand again’.

“From what I understand, even he has said he doesn’t want to do that. So we are rather in the realms of the hypothetical.”

Mr Shapps said Mr Johnson would have been “perfectly entitled to remain as an MP” but “decided to step down”.

He told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: “I think people around the country inside and outside the party recognise that Boris was somebody with many qualities.

“But we are now in a world where there are different challenges to face and we’ve got new management in No 10 getting on with the job and getting on with the priorities of this country.

“I think the world has moved on from what was quite a dramatic period under Brexit and of course under the issues related to Covid, the vaccines and the rest of it.”

He said the UK is in a “calmer period” under the leadership of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who he said is “doing proper Conservative things” in a response to Mr Johnson accusing the Government of ditching 2019 manifesto pledges.

Mr Shapps also said he disagrees with Mr Johnson’s criticism of the Commons Privileges Committee’s investigation into whether he misled MPs when he said Covid rules were followed in Downing Street during the pandemic despite lockdown-busting parties taking place.

Mr Johnson attacked the seven-person panel on Friday as he resigned as an MP, accusing them of a “witch hunt” and likening the panel to a “kangaroo court”.

But Mr Shapps said he has “no reason” to support the accusations, denying suggestions the investigation was motivated by a desire to reverse Brexit.

The former Tory chairman said, while Mr Johnson had successes as prime minister, he thinks “people both in the Conservative Party and outside don’t miss the drama” of his premiership.

It comes as Guto Harri, a former Johnson spin doctor, told Sky his former boss has been “hounded out of politics”.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for a snap general election after Mr Johnson, along with two of his close allies – Nadine Dorries and Nigel Adams – quit the Commons within 24 hours of each other, triggering by-elections in their seats.

Pat McFadden, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said the country will be “bedevilled by chaos and instability” if the Tory “chaos” is allowed to continue.

He accused Mr Johnson of acting like a “baby-man” with the way he reacted to the yet-to-be-published Privileges Committee conclusion.

The probe, which was chaired by veteran Labour MP Harriet Harman but had a Tory majority, is thought to have ruled that Mr Johnson lied to Parliament over partygate.

Reports suggest it was set to recommend at least a 10-day suspension, reaching the threshold for a by-election in his now-former Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency to be potentially triggered.

Mr McFadden said the committee’s report, which is expected to be published “promptly”, is not the “last word”.

“It then goes to Parliament, where the Tories are sitting on a majority of around 66 seats — at least it was on Friday before they all started resigning,” he told Ridge.

“Even then, it just triggers a recall petition where he could face the voters.

“But the truth is he didn’t want to face any of the verdicts because he can never accept responsibility for his own actions.

“That’s true of all these right-wing populist leaders. They are like baby-men. Whenever anything goes wrong, it is everybody else’s fault.”