Boris Johnson’s unexpected appearance at an election rally on Tuesday night has everyone online saying the same thing – it reeked of Tory desperation.
The ex-PM, who resigned from Downing Street in disgrace over partygate and the Chris Pincher scandal, took to the stage in central London claiming Labour are on the cusp of delivering “the most Left-wing government since the war”.
He also explained why he was publicly campaigning for the Tories for the first time since the election was called six weeks ago, saying: “When Rishi asked me to come and help, of course I couldn’t say no... We’re all here because we love our country.”
But he dodged any mention of Rishi Sunak after that and did not share the stage with him.
The two men are thought to still be rivals after Sunak pushed Johnson out of office back in 2022.
The former PM chose to leave the Commons as an MP back in 2023 days before a parliamentary committee announced he had deliberately misled the House over partygate.
And while Johnson was met with a crowd who chanted his name last night, it seems very few people on X (formerly Twitter) feel the same way.
In fact, many users seemed to be in disbelief at his reappearance.
Some even thought Johnson’s presence would be an own goal for the Tories and encourage voters to back Labour, rather than vice versa.
While others joked about Johnson’s handling of Covid and the Tories’ widely anticipated electoral wipeout later this week.
Many could not help pointing out that this seemed to only emphasise the divide occurring within the Tory party right now.
While Johnson was appearing in a supposed sign of unity with Sunak, former home secretary Suella Braverman was writing in the Telegraph that the election is “over” for the Tories.
Tory minister Huw Merriman – who is standing as a Conservative candidate – also wrote on X that the ex-PM’s revival made him question his own decision to vote for the party.