Boris Johnson believes Tories can win next General Election
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Boris Johnson could return to his original political home in rural Oxfordshire in search of a safe seat in the next election, Tory MPs are speculating. The former Prime Minister is understood to be looking for a house in the county where he was first an MP, representing Henley.
During his exclusive interview with Nadine Dorries on Talk TV, Mr Johnson insisted he is “focused” on working for his constituents in Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
But questions are being asked about whether he could hold onto that seat in west London at the next election with the boundary changes apparently making it a Labour gain.
According to Electoral Calculus, the Tories have a mere 9 percent chance of winning Uxbridge and South Ruislip in 2024 with a predicted majority for Labour of 9,256.
It would be a huge turnaround from 2019 when Mr Johnson easily won the constituency with 52.6 percent of the vote and a majority of 7,210.
But now fellow Conservative MPs believe that his house hunting in Oxfordshire is also linked for the search for a safe seat to come back in the next Parliament.
In particular, the county is seeing a new seat added for Bicester and Woodstock which includes parts of Mr Johnson’s former Henley seat, former Prime Minister David Cameron’s old Witney seat, parts of Banbury and Abingdon.
One Conservative MP said: “I hear he’s moving to rural Oxfordshire, near to a couple of safe seats, including a newly created one from boundary review. Massive coincidence I’m sure.”
A former minister added: “I’m sure Boris would never talk about it publicly but winning in Uxbridge looks like a tall task after the boundary changes. If he wants to stay in politics, which I think he does, he’ll be looking for somewhere else.
“So I think there is something to the speculation especially as he is looking at getting a new house near his old [Henley] constituency.”
However, hopes that the new Bicester and Woodstock seat would be an easy win for Mr Johnson could be misplaced.
According to Electoral Calculus Labour are projected to win it with a majority of 1,693 with the Conservatives only having a 39 percent chance of victory.
However, that is based on a Labour poll lead of 21 percent which many believe will narrow as the election draws nearer.
The claims that Mr Johnson may be making plans to ensure he is re-elected to Parliament at the next election is also fuelling speculation he is planning to make a comeback as Conservative leader.
Some of his supporters would like to see him returned as Prime Minister before the next election.
His “comeback tour” of COP27, Davos, Ukraine and the US where he directly criticised Rishi Sunak, has also fed suggestions that he is positioning himself for a return.
If Mr Johnson switches constituencies again to a third seat he would still be some way off from emulating his hero Winston Churchill who represented five.
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