BORIS Johnson would “certainly” be offered a top Cabinet position if Tory leadership hopeful Nadhim Zahawi wins the race to replace the interim prime minister.
Zahawi, who called for Johnson to leave No 10 less than 48 hours after accepting his offer of the Chancellor position, was speaking to LBC Radio when he made the statement.
The former education secretary told the station: “Boris Johnson is a friend of mine of thirty years. If he wishes to serve in Cabinet then I would certainly offer him a job.
“He has been probably the most consequential prime minister of his generation. If you go back to Margaret Thatcher, John Major, then Tony Blair and of course Gordon Brown, then David Cameron and Theresa May and now Boris Johnson. He’s delivered Brexit …”
Asked if Johnson could be said to have delivered Brexit when the issue of the Northern Ireland Protocol remains unaddressed, Zahawi said: “The chairman of my campaign is Brandon Lewis [the former Northern Ireland secretary] who will deliver the protocol bill which will give us that leverage when we enter a negotiation.”
The Tory leadership hopeful, one of eight left in the running, said he was one of the “few candidates that has negotiated with the EU commission”.
He said the bloc only took negotiations “seriously” when the UK had leverage such as was offered by the Tories’ plan to break international law over their own Brexit deal.
Zahawi’s support for Johnson to take on a Cabinet role comes despite accusations that he tried to get Carrie Johnson a £100,000 role paid for by the public purse while she was his mistress.
The interim prime minister (above) also faced accusations of using public funds for his own ends after claims of an affair with American tech entrepreneur Jennifer Arcuri during his time as mayor of London.
Elsewhere, speaking to the BBC, Zahawi denied he is relying on the “magic money tree” to fund his pledges to cut tax if he becomes prime minister.
Zahawi has said he would cut income tax while abolishing VAT and green levies on energy bills, along with the planned corporation tax increase.
BBC Radio 4 Today programme presenter Amol Rajan criticised the Tory leadership contender for not revealing how his proposals, estimated to be worth around £36 billion, would be costed.
Zahawi said: “I’ve declared my leadership race for about … it’s been two, three days.
“This is a fully costed plan. You will see I demonstrated in every job I’ve had that I deliver, whether it’s vaccines, or the Department of Education.
“I will do the same thing: I will evidence it and you will see it and I will come on your programme and show it to you if I am prime minister.”
On the morning media rounds, the new Chancellor also acknowledged that Rishi Sunak is the frontrunner in the Tory leadership race – but insisted he could still make up ground.
“Colleagues will be making their minds up. A lot of undeclared colleagues remain. Rishi is out in the lead, no doubt. He is a very talented man, he would make a great prime minister,” he told Sky News.
“But I think I can deliver. I am the man who has a track record of operational competence. I have the track record of delivering the [Covid] vaccine.”
