Boris Johnson is now back in the UK following rumours he could return to the Prime Minister role.
Johnson was seen with his family at Gatwick Airport this morning (October 22) after cutting a holiday in the Dominican Republic short following Liz Truss' resignation as Prime Minister on Thursday.
Sky News took photographs of Boris and his wife Carrie Johnson in economy on an overnight flight with British Airways as they flew back from the Caribbean with their children and said some boos were directed at Boris.
Later, Johnson was seen waving to press outside the VIP exit to the South Terminal as he made his way to a Range Rover alone.
Liz Truss apologises for ‘mistakes’ as Prime Minister
The flight arrived 47 minutes late and was tracked by around 7,000 users of the FlightRadar24 website.
Will Boris Johnson become Prime Minister again?
Johnson’s allies said he is “up for it” but he is likely to be opposed in the leadership race by Rishi Sunak, his former chancellor as well as Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt.
Although there are rumours about a possible return to the Prime Minister position for Boris Johnson, he hasn’t formally declared that he will run.
His potential reinstatement has divided opinion among even his allies in the parliamentary party including Dominic Raab, his former deputy prime minister and foreign secretary.
Mr Raab appeared on the broadcast round on Saturday morning and said “we cannot go backwards”. He also pointed out that Boris Johnson faces a probe into his actions over partygate.
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He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I stood by Boris, I’ve got a lot of respect for him. I think he can make a return to frontline politics and I like him personally.
“The challenge is this Committee on Privileges and Standards is entering a new phase, there’s going to be oral testimony from people from Number 10. He’s going to have to give oral testimony and I just can’t see in practice how the new prime minister, in office latest next Friday, could give the country the attention, the focus that it needs and at the same time be giving testimony and be answering all of those questions. So I don’t say it with any relish. I’m sad about that situation.
“We cannot go backwards. We cannot have another episode of the Groundhog Day, of the soap opera of partygate. We must get the country and the government moving forward.”
Boris has the mandate to deliver our elected manifesto and a proven track record getting the big decisions right. I'm backing him in the leadership contest.
— Priti Patel MP (@pritipatel) October 22, 2022
Instead, Raab backed Rishi Sunak, saying he was “very confident” he would stand and that he’d already secured the backing of 100 MPs.
He told BBC Breakfast: “I think the critical issue here is going to be the economy. Rishi had the right plan in the summer and I think it is the right plan now.”
Raab said he felt that Sunak could “bring the party together with a government of all of the talents”.
Priti Patel, former home secretary, said she would be backing Boris Johnson, moments after he had landed.
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