Boris Johnson has been branded delusional after saying he was already planning for his third term as prime minister, just two days after the Tories suffered a catastrophic double by-election defeat.
Johnson goaded his Tory critics by claiming he was “thinking actively” about fighting the next two general elections,
As Tory MPs in Westminster renewed plotting to remove the Prime Minister he used an interview at the Commonwealth summit in Rwanda to say he aims to be the longest-serving post-war leader.
Asked by journalists at the British high commissioner’s residence in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, if he would lead his party into the next election, Johnson said: “Will I win? Yes.”
He then added: “At the moment I’m actively thinking about the third term and what could happen then, but I will review that when I get to it.”
The next general election could be in 2024, meaning the one after that would have to take place in 2029 at the latest.
The comments were seen as deliberate echo of Margaret Thatcher’s vow to “go on and on” after winning a third term in the 1987 election.
They were also a provocation to Tory MPs who are unable to mount another vote of no confidence against the Prime Minister for another 11 months unless they change party rules.
Johnson survived a vote of no confidence in early June by 211 votes to 148, with 41 per cent of Tory MPs voting against him.
He took the result as a renewal of his mandate as leader but Tory MP are now planning to use elections to the backbench 1922 committee that sets party rules as a lever to stage another vote before the year is out.
One former supporter of the prime minister, an ex-cabinet minister, described Johnson’s remarks as “completely delusional”, while a senior MP from a “red wall” seat said he was “showing increasing signs of a bunker mentality, and that never ends well.”
But others took the comments more lightly.
One of Johnson’s fiercest critics, Tory Brexiteer Andrew Bridgen, told HuffPost UK: “I don’t mind if the PM stays till 2030, he can resign at 9pm if he wants.”
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