Nadhim Zahawi has announced he is support Boris Johnson’s bid to become prime minister again - just weeks after telling him to resign.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said Johnson “got the big calls right” when he was last in 10 Downing Street and should be given another chance.
“With a unified team behind him, he is the one to lead us to victory and prosperity,” Zahawi said on Twitter.
But his comments were very different from what he wrote in a letter to Johnson in July urging him to resign as PM.
At the time, Zahawi, who was then chancellor of the exchequer, said: “The country deserves a government that is not only stable, but which acts with integrity. Prime minister, you know in your heart what the right thing to do is, and go now.”
Despite the embarrassing U-turn, his endorsement is a timely boost for Johnson, who is struggling to catch Tory leadership frontrunner Rishi Sunak.
Talks over a potential deal between the two men, which would potentially have seen one of them stand aside to support the other, broke up last night without agreement.
A cabinet minister who is supporting Johnson told HuffPost UK that he had “reached out” to both the Sunak and Penny Mordaunt camps urging them to row in behind him, but no agreement had been reached.
Johnson’s team have insisted he already has the 100 MPs he needs to go forward in the leadership race, although fewer than 60 have gone public.
Sunak already has 129 publicly-declared backers, with Mordaunt on 23.
Candidates have until 2pm tomorrow to get the required number of supporters, with Tory members voting on the final two candidates.
Johnson supporter Jacob Rees-Mogg this morning insisted he would definitely make it through.
But Sunak backer Steve Baker claimed Johnson would be a “genuine disaster” if he becomes PM for a second time.