Ditching Boris Johnson as Tory leader was “a mistake”, the chairman of the Conservative Party has admitted, days before the former Prime Minister starts his political comeback.
Richard Fuller told GB News’ Chopper’s Political Podcast that MPs should never have forced him out at the height of the partygate scandal.
The comments come as Westminster braces itself for the return of Johnson to the airwaves as he gives his first proper sit down broadcast interview since resigning to GB News’ Camilla Tominey on Sunday.
Fuller told GB News: “Removing Boris Johnson, whatever one might have thought about what went on or didn’t go on at the time, was a mistake.
“And it was a mistake because that wasn’t the question to be answered. If you wanted to change, you had to agree who the next leader was going to be.
“My personal view was also getting rid of someone who just won the general election was probably not going to end well, whatever happened.
“We were answering the wrong question. We were trying to say, “let’s, you know, let’s change the leader on saying, let’s have this new leader’.”
Critics say that the decision of Tory MPs to withdraw support from Johnson in the summer of 2022, leading to his resignation, led directly to the party’s historic defeat in July.
The timing of Johnson’s TV interview this weekend is significant, with Conservative MPs due to decide by the end of next week which are two leadership candidates should go to a vote of the members.
Each of the four candidates – James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat and Kemi Badenoch – signalled this week at the party’s annual conference that there was a way back to the Tory frontline for Johnson.
Watch Richard Fuller’s interview on Chopper’s Political Podcast on GB News’ YouTube channel, or listen to it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
