Susanna Reid effortlessly demolished calls for Boris Johnson to return to frontline politics on Tuesday by reminding his supporters about nothing other than partygate.
Some Tories want to “bring back Boris” following huge losses at last week’s local elections, even though the ex-PM resigned from parliament in 2023.
Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, former Tory MEP David Campbell Bannerman said he would install Johnson as party chairman with a seat in cabinet, and make sure he got elected to parliament at the next general election.
He claimed: “He’s a great campaigner and we really are missing that now – we’ve seen that at these disastrous local elections.”
“You remember partygate?” Reid interjected.
Johnson actually stepped down as an MP days before the Commons privileges committee was set to announce he deliberately misled parliament over partygate when prime minister.
But, Campbell Bannerman said the ex-PM was “set up” on that, as Johnson’s keen ally Nadine Dorries claims in her book, The Plot.
Reid said: “Sorry, he was set up? Set up by whom?”
When the ex-MEP said it was Johnson’s own staff who were setting him up, Reid reminded him: “Boris Johnson was in charge during lockdown, [there was] legislation he introduced and [he] then proceeded to have a whole load of social events and breach of rules in No.10 Downing Street.
“In what way was that a set-up?”
Campbell Bannerman claimed Johnson “doesn’t like partying” to which Reid said: “I just saw him with a wine glass in his hand!”
When the ex-MEP just claimed the reality is very complex, Reid recalled how Johnson was fined for breaching lockdown rules.
Campbell Bannerman then claimed that “it was the media”, and said that Johnson was only a few percentage points behind in the polls – and that he does not understand why he resigned as an MP.
“I think he will be back,” Campbell Bannerman said.
Apparently not deterred by Reid’s reminders, the ex-MEP later added: “I say to Conservative MPs, for heaven’s sake, step up, get rid of Sunak, let’s have a new leader, which can bring Boris back as part of a team – it has to be Suella [Braverman] or Kemi [Badenoch].”
He added that he “would not be averse” to having Nigel Farage back into the Conservative fold, too.