Boris Johnson reportedly threatens to demote Rishi Sunak
Boris Johnson reportedly threatened to demote Rishi Sunak earlier this week in a fiery Downing Street meeting.
Johnson was said by officials in attendance to be “apoplectic” about the leaking of a letter from Sunak that criticised the Prime Minister’s borders policy.
Johnson is said to have only found out about the letter from last week’s Sunday papers, after officials forgot to flag it.
The Sunday Times reports that this led to the Prime Minister threatening to demote Sunak in front of a number of advisers.
Recounting the comments, one official in attendance at the meeting told the Times: “He said: ‘I’ve been thinking about it. Maybe it’s time we looked at Rishi as the next secretary of state for health. He could potentially do a very good job there.’
“In an open meeting, after ranting about Rishi, he then suggested the chancellor could be demoted in the next reshuffle.”
The letter in question accused Johnson’s travel policy of being out of step with the rest of Europe and warned it could hamper the UK’s economic recovery.
It was widely seen as an attempt by Sunak to line up with Tory MPs and party members who want laxer restrictions on travel, however it has been speculated that the letter could have leaked from the Department for Transport.
It comes as Johnson has seen a dramatic drop in his approval ratings from Tory party members and the wider public.
The latest Opinium poll has his approval rating down to -16 – the lowest since he became Prime Minister in August 2019.
Meanwhile, a poll from ConservativeHome this week showed his approval rating among party members had dropped 36 points in one month to +3 per cent.
Sunak had the second highest score on +74 per cent in the same poll.