DAN HODGES: The fragile truce between Rishi and old boss is fractured

DAN HODGES: The fragile truce between Rishi and his old boss is fractured. Now both camps are poised for battle

The fragile truce between Rishi and his old boss is fractured. Now both camps are poised for battle

Boris Johnson has always been wary of Rishi Sunak. ‘It was early in his premiership, and we were discussing promoting Rishi,’ an old ally recalls. ‘But Boris said, ‘The problem is he’s one of the hungry lions. And I don’t want to surround myself with hungry lions. I want to be surrounded by tired old lions.’ ‘

Last week, the fragile truce that has prevailed between the current and former occupants of No 10 finally fractured.

Friends of Johnson have accused Sunak’s associates of covertly plotting with members of the Commons Privileges Committee – which is investigating whether he misled MPs over ‘Partygate’ – to end his parliamentary career. In response, supporters of the PM claim Johnson is simply interested in self-promotion, and that talk of his possible return to No 10 represents nothing more than vainglorious grandstanding.

‘It’s all about Boris generating publicity for his memoirs and speaking engagements,’ one Minister chided. ‘He doesn’t represent a serious challenge to Rishi. Yes, Boris still might have a role to play in appealing to some voters in some parts of the country. But he’s very polarising. Rishi has a much broader appeal.’

When Sunak was first appointed Chancellor in 2020, Johnson recognised his qualities and sought to harness them. ‘He could see he was someone who was clever and methodical,’ one former Minister explained. ‘That’s the sort of person you want running the Treasury.’

But according to No 10 officials, the pair’s partnership swiftly began to ‘disintegrate’.

One significant factor was the relationship – or perceived relationship – Sunak was building with Johnson’s influential adviser Dom Cummings.

‘Boris began to become paranoid,’ one No 10 source revealed. ‘He started to see shadows everywhere. He thought Rishi was an ally of Dom’s, not an ally of his. Boris liked to surround himself with stooges. Rishi would challenge him. Boris wanted to have complete control.’

MAJOR divisions also emerged over economic policy. Johnson believed significant additional amounts of public money needed to be invested in delivering his cherished Levelling Up agenda, and to head off an impending crisis in the NHS.

But Sunak was much more fiscally cautious. ‘Rishi’s focus as Chancellor was on the country’s spiralling debt,’ a colleague recalls. ‘He was desperate to get spending under control and balance the books. Where Johnson was undisciplined; his solution was to throw money at any problem.’

The breaking point came over Partygate. Sunak believed Johnson had misled him and Cabinet colleagues over the extent of the socialising inside No 10 during lockdown. And when he was fined for his brief appearance at an impromptu birthday event organised by Carrie Johnson, Sunak was so furious that he seriously contemplated resigning.

‘When he was considering walking out, part of it was obviously about the principle of the thing,’ a friend revealed. ‘But it was also about Boris. He realised he just couldn’t trust him. And from that moment, it was only a matter of time before Rishi broke from him.’

Allies of Johnson claim Sunak is simply using the Partygate saga to justify his own treachery. ‘Rishi was threatening to resign over something every other month,’ one told me. ‘He was manoeuvring for Boris’s job from day one.’

They also point to the new tone Sunak has adopted since becoming PM. When he launched his first abortive bid for the premiership against Liz Truss, he went out of his way to praise his former boss. ‘Let me be clear,’ he said, ‘I will have no part in a rewriting of history that seeks to demonise Boris, exaggerate his faults or deny his efforts.’

But when he stood on the steps of No 10 to deliver his first address as Prime Minister, he pointedly observed: ‘I know he [Boris] would agree that the mandate my party earned in 2019 is not the sole property of any one individual. It is a mandate that belongs to and unites all of us.’

Johnson definitely doesn’t agree. He regards that Election victory as a personal triumph, and saw Sunak’s words as a thinly disguised attempt to tarnish his legacy.

Another contentious issue is over the peerages and other honours he wants to bestow as an outgoing PM – Johnson’s so-called ‘Lavender List’, named after Harold Wilson’s notorious resignation honours, drawn up by his aide Marcia Falkender on sheets of lavender notepaper.

Sunak is understood to be fearful it will ignite a political firestorm and is looking for ways to curtail its scope. According to some Government insiders, there is now discussion of the intended recipients being subjected to a ‘rolling vetting process’ so they can be scrutinised on a six-monthly basis to ensure there are no scandals or conflicts of interest that could tarnish the Tories in the run-up to an Election.

But the biggest battleground is set to be over policy.

Some Ministers believe they detect Johnson’s hand behind the increasingly bitter wrangling over the defence budget.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is seen as one of Johnson’s key Cabinet allies, and they see briefings against Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s proposed funding settlement as part of a proxy attack on the Prime Minister.

Other Sunak supporters accuse Johnson of ‘ambushing’ the PM during the recent visit to the UK by Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky. As one said: ‘Zelensky praised Boris in his speech and made the pitch for Ukraine to be given jets. Then, an hour later, Boris releases a statement saying we should give Ukraine the entire RAF. It was obviously co-ordinated. And it was designed to back Rishi into a corner.’

The other flashpoint is Brexit. Allies of Johnson believe Sunak is starting to ‘backslide’ on the commitment to ‘Get Brexit Done’ that underpinned his 2019 Election triumph. They have been pointing to Michael Gove’s attendance at a secret summit in which members of Sir Keir Starmer’s Shadow Cabinet, Lord (Peter) Mandelson and business leaders discussed how to address ‘the failings’ of Brexit.

They have also been nervously watching reports of the deal that Sunak has brokered with the EU over the future of the Northern Ireland protocol.

While details remain a closely guarded secret, Ministers believe it is likely to be rejected by the Democratic Unionist Party, and will enrage Tory MPs who are worried that it would involve an ongoing role for the European courts.

Until recently, No 10 regarded Johnson as an irritant, but nothing more. ‘Boris will be a thorn in Rishi’s side, but there’s no prospect of him unseating him,’ one Minister told me. ‘The party have had enough of the Boris psychodramas.’

Maybe they have. But no one appears to have told Boris Johnson. The truce is over. The Johnson and Sunak camps are gearing up for war. It’s hard to see how the Government can survive it.

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