Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson, two competitors within the Conservative party, met in person late on Saturday as they prepared to compete for control of their splintered ruling party, as per reports. The two formerly led Britain’s government.
According to the BBC and other news sources, former prime minister Johnson met with ex-finance minister Sunak to discuss the election after returning from a Caribbean vacation earlier in the day with the intention of making a daring political comeback barely weeks after leaving office.
Both have not yet made it known that they intend to run to succeed departing leader Liz Truss, who announced Thursday that she will step down after serving for only 44 turbulent days.
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It is believed to be their first in-person talks in months following a dramatic falling out after Sunak’s resignation in July, which contributed to the government uprising that finally led to Johnson’s removal.
There aren’t many facts available concerning the “secret summit” that The Sun and the Sunday Times claimed was going on at almost 10:00 p.m. (2100 GMT). To prevent a Tory “civil war,” they were reportedly going to talk about “agreeing to a joint ticket.”
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That improbable scenario is taking place as Sunak, a 42-year-old Conservative MP, quickly surpasses the party’s minimum need of 100 nominations to run for the position of UK leader.
128 Tory legislators have publicly endorsed him, compared to 53 for Johnson and 23 for cabinet member Penny Mordaunt, who was the first to officially announce on Friday.
Despite pals stating he was “up for it,” Johnson cut short a luxurious vacation to the Dominican Republic to take part in the apparent three-way fight.
Two months after announcing his departure due to a cabinet uprising over a number of scandals, the contentious 58-year-old architect of Brexit only handed over control in the first few days of September.
(With inputs from agencies)
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