Boris Johnson drops out of current race for PM of UK - but will he try again in the future?

[James]

Johnson would likely have to move constituencies if he still wants a job in the House of Commons, as the current poll swings have him losing the Uxbridge & South Ruislip seat.

Or, he could wait to be made Baron Boris by PM Sunak and enter the House of Lords instead.

 

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How Ex UK PM Boris Johnson Made Over 1 Million Pounds In 3 Months

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson has already earned more than £1 million ($1.2 million) for giving paid speeches since leaving office in September, according to an official register of UK parliamentarians' interests.

Famous for his rhetorical flourishes, Johnson has in recent months delivered speeches to bankers in New York, insurers in the United States, a summit organised by broadcaster CNN in Portugal and another talk in India.

He received payments ranging from £215,000 to £277,000 ($267,000 to $344,000) each time, according to the official document published on the UK parliament's website that lists lawmakers' financial interests.

Johnson, 58, left Downing Street after announcing his resignation in July following a series of scandals that tarnished his premiership, but still serves as an MP for the ruling Conservative party.

He attempted to make a spectacular political comeback after the rapid demise of his successor Liz Truss triggered another Conservative leadership contest, but Tory MPs backed his former finance minister Rishi Sunak instead.

Johnson, who remains popular with Tory members, has not ruled out another bid for the top job, saying he was "well placed to deliver a Conservative victory in 2024" as the main opposition Labour party rides high in the polls.

NDTV

 

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Former PM Johnson sounded out about Telegraph role​

Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, is being sounded out about an executive role with The Daily Telegraph in a move which could reunite him with one of his former cabinet colleagues.

Sky News has learnt that Mr Johnson has held preliminary, informal talks with Nadhim Zahawi about a possible job with the right-leaning newspaper publisher if an offer being assembled by the former chancellor is successful.

A source close to Mr Johnson insisted on Monday that no agreement was in place and no formal talks were taking place, although they acknowledged that the idea was "floating around".

However, people involved in the Telegraph bidding process said that Mr Zahawi had raised the idea of Mr Johnson becoming the Telegraph's global editor-in-chief with prospective investors in his bid.

Mr Johnson, who now writes a column for The Daily Mail, previously worked for the Telegraph, both as a correspondent in Brussels and more recently as a highly paid columnist.

"He still holds the Telegraph in high affection," said a person close to the former PM.

Sky News revealed last month that Mr Zahawi had approached a string of billionaires about backing an offer for the newspaper and The Spectator, both of which are on the market after an Abu Dhabi state-backed takeover was blocked by the last Conservative administration.

The former chancellor is negotiating directly with Gulf-based IMI - which owns the majority of RedBird IMI, the vehicle now overseeing the formal auction process.

One person close to him said his offer was now "fully financed" although further details of his backers or the chances of him lodging a successful bid were unclear.

A spokesman for Mr Johnson declined to comment, while Mr Zahawi could not be reached for comment.

The emergence of Mr Johnson's possible involvement in the future of the Telegraph comes as RedBird IMI reduces the number of parties participating in the auction.

Last week, Sky News revealed that Lord Saatchi, the former advertising mogul, had accused RedBird IMI of overpaying for the right to own the title after his £350m offer for it was rejected.

Lord Saatchi and his bidding partner, Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, were informed of the decision not to proceed with their offer by Raine Group and Robey Warshaw, the bankers handling the Telegraph auction.

Mediahuis, the Belgian publisher, has also not made it through.

RedBird IMI's attempt to take ownership of the Telegraph titles and The Spectator was thwarted by the last Conservative government's decision to change media law to prevent foreign states exerting influence over national newspapers.

Sir Paul Marshall, the hedge fund tycoon, is now the frontrunner to acquire The Spectator, one of Britain's most influential political magazines.

National World, the London-listed vehicle headed by industry veteran David Montgomery, remains involved in the process, while the Telegraph itself reported at the weekend that Sir Paul was still in contention to buy the newspapers after weeks of doubt about whether he would bid for them on a standalone basis.

Lord Rothermere, the Daily Mail proprietor, pulled out of the bidding earlier in the summer amid concerns that he would be blocked on competition grounds.

The fate of the Telegraph, historically a staunch Conservative Party backer, has now been up in the air for more than a year.

Lloyds Banking Group, the UK's biggest high street lender, seized control of its parent companies after the Barclay family fell behind on debt repayments.

The family had owned the Telegraph for nearly 20 years, but has seen a number of its assets fall into financial trouble.

The Barclays continue to control Very Group, the online retailer, with IMI also having extended financing to that business.

Mr Zahawi was recently appointed as chair of Very Group.

IMI is controlled by the UAE's deputy prime minister and ultimate owner of Manchester City Football Club, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The Lloyds debt, which totalled more than £1.15bn, was repaid by RedBird IMI on behalf of the family.

People close to the process insisted that there remained "robust" interest in the Telegraph at significantly higher prices than that tabled by Lord Saatchi and Lady de Rothschild.

Former PM Johnson sounded out about Telegraph role

Boris Johnson has been courted about a role as the Telegraph's global editor-in-chief by Nadhim Zahawi, who he appointed as chancellor before the end of his ill-fated premiership, Sky News learns.

news.sky.com

 

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Johnson's 'hopeless' bid to persuade Harry to stay​

Boris Johnson was part of a last-minute attempt to discourage the Duke of Sussex from leaving his royal life in the UK, according to the former prime minister's soon-to-published memoir.

Johnson delivered what he calls a "manly pep talk" to Prince Harry on the sidelines of a UK-Africa investment summit in London in January 2020, according to Unleashed, the memoir being serialised in the Daily Mail.

It was a "totally hopeless" task, suggests Johnson, with Prince Harry already on the verge of leaving the country.

The man who was famous for Brexit could not make the young prince a remainer.

This encounter did not prove to be a meeting of minds, but Johnson's account does now explain what at the time was reported as a 20-minute one-to-one "catch-up" without aides present, between the then-prime minister and Prince Harry.

It was at a time of huge interest in Prince Harry and his rift with the Royal Family, with the meeting with Johnson coming the day after a speech in which the prince had said he had "no other option" but to step down from his royal role.

Johnson, according to the quotes released so far, appears to have gone ahead with a doomed effort to get Prince Harry to change his mind - with the suggestion he was acting on behalf of Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street.

It was a "ridiculous business... when they made me try to persuade Harry to stay. Kind of manly pep talk. Totally hopeless", writes Johnson, about the meeting between the pair of Old Etonians.

So far there has been no comment from Prince Harry's representatives or Buckingham Palace.

But this meeting, between the Spare and the Hair Apparent, seems to reveal an unexpected overlap between the political and royal worlds and adds another dimension to how Prince Harry and Meghan left the UK.

It is not something that gets mentioned in their Netflix film or Harry's own memoir.

From the details revealed so far it is also not clear whether the prime minister was giving relationship advice based on his own experiences. A month later Johnson revealed he was engaged to Carrie Symonds and they were expecting a baby.

However, nothing seemed likely to stop the departure of Prince Harry, who the night before the meeting with the PM had spoken, "not as a prince or a duke but as Harry", of his plans to live a different life from his role as a working royal.

This family drama overlapped with the Africa investment summit - and when Prince William hosted a reception for summit guests that evening in Buckingham Palace, Prince Harry did not attend and was about to leave on a flight to Canada.

He has since moved to live with his family in California in the US - although he returns to the UK regularly and will be here next week at a charity event.

According to the Mail, Johnson, in his effort to keep the prince from departing, had hailed him as a valuable asset to "UK plc" and praised his work, such as the Invictus Games for military veterans.

The event was about UK investment in Africa and there was a common interest in improving education in Africa - with Prince Harry involved in a charity in Lesotho and both Meghan and Johnson having championed the importance of access to education for girls.

Much has changed for both Prince Harry and Johnson since that brief encounter in London's Docklands, with both men spectacularly falling out with their respective organisations.

Prince Harry has been at a series of events in New York this week. This included serious moments, such as a speech warning about the risks of social media for young people.

But then he also appeared in a haunted maze item on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight show, where in a strange exchange he was asked if he was afraid of pandas.

Would that have happened if he had taken Boris's advice? Although the ex-prime minister's critics might also have talked about him in terms of eats, shoots and leaves.

Boris Johnson's 'hopeless' bid to persuade Prince Harry to stay

The ex-PM's memoir describes his meeting to try to keep Prince Harry from leaving royal life.

www.bbc.com

 

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Boris Johnson claims bugging device found in his bathroom after Netanyahu visit​

A bugging device was found in Boris Johnson’s bathroom after a visit by Benjamin Netanyahu when he was foreign secretary, the former prime minister has claimed.

Mr Johnson alleged that his security team had made the discovery when they did a sweep of the toilets after the Israeli premier had used them during a meeting in 2017.

Writing in his memoir, “Unleashed”, the former Tory MP said Mr Netanyahu had excused himself during talks at his old office to use the washroom, described as “a secret annex… a bit like the gents in a posh London club.”

“Thither Bibi repaired for a while, and it may or may not be a coincidence but I am told that later, when they were doing a regular sweep for bugs, they found a listening device in the thunderbox,” Mr Johnson said.

It is unclear whether the Israeli government was confronted about the incident.

The Israeli embassy in London has been contacted for comment.

Elsewhere in the book, Mr Johnson likened his chief adviser turned arch critic Dominic Cummings to a “homicidal robot” who worked to undermine him while he was in Number 10.

“I felt like the crew in Nostromo, the spaceship in Alien, when they discover that their colleague Ash is a homicidal robot – on a completely different mission,” he said.

Mr Johnson will be questioned about the revelations in his memoir during an appearance on ITV set to air on Friday evening.

It comes after the BBC was forced to cancel an interview with him after presenter Laura Kuenssberg accidentally sent the former prime minister her briefing notes.

Boris Johnson claims bugging device found in his bathroom after Netanyahu visit

The former prime minister alleged that his security team had made the discovery when they did a sweep of the toilets in 2017

www.independent.co.uk