‘Well, that was unexpected’: how Johnson wrongfooted his leadership backers

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To borrow a line from Eric Morecambe – as one wag pointed out to Nadhim Zahawi on Twitter – it was a case of “backing all the right candidates, just not necessarily in the right order …”.

Among a field of very late converts to the charms of Rishi Sunak, Zahawi was one of those caught out in the most awkward of ways by Boris Johnson’s abrupt announcement that he was not entering the Tory leadership race.

Having penned an article for the Daily Telegraph in which the former chancellor urged readers to “get ready for Boris 2.0”, Zahawi appears to have had no advance warning that Johnson was to announce his non-contention around the time the article was published online at 9pm.

With the piece pulled, Zahawi tweeted less than half an hour later: “A day is a long time in politics … Given today’s news, it’s clear that we should turn to @RishiSunak to become our next Prime Minister.”

Other MPs seemingly caught out included James Duddridge, who had been telling the media that Johnson was “coming back and is up for it”. The Essex backbencher reacted to Johnson’s announcement by tweeting: “Well that was unexpected. Off to bed!”, before announcing on Monday morning he was backing Sunak.

Elsewhere, those who have promptly switched to Sunak – regarded by many Johnson supporters as a traitor who knifed their man in the back – include the levelling up secretary, Simon Clarke, and the foreign secretary, James Cleverly.

As recently as 2pm on Saturday, Cleverly had publicly backed the former prime minister, saying: “I know Boris has learned lessons from his time in No 10 and will ensure the focus is on the needs of the country from day one.”

Priti Patel, who was home secretary in Johnson’s cabinet and had been among those backing him when word came through that he was returning from his holiday in the Dominican Republic, said on Monday that Conservatives “must put political differences aside” to give Sunak the best chance of succeeding.

Backbenchers David Morris and Shailesh Vara announced they were throwing their weight behind Sunak, having previously declared for Johnson.

“Rishi is experienced, competent and will make a great PM,” Morris said on Twitter, having urged Johnson on Friday to return to the UK to “unite the party”.