LONDON: Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a surprise appearance on the campaign trail in Britain on Tuesday, in a desperate bid to drum up support for the Conservatives and their leader Rishi Sunak, the man who helped oust him from office.
Johnson won a large majority in the last election in 2019 before being forced to resign in 2022 by a Conservative mutiny that Sunak helped start and which exposed deep divisions in the ruling party, especially between Sunak and Johnson.
Two days before an election the Conservatives are expected to lose by a landslide, he was greeted by party supporters with chants of “Boris! Boris!” and introduced the incumbent prime minister at a campaign event in London.
In a speech in which he listed many of his own achievements, Johnson did not personally endorse Sunak but focused on what he said were the dangers of the opposition Labour Party winning power.
“None of us can stand by as a Labour government prepares to use a landslide majority to destroy much of what we have achieved,” he said.
Acknowledging that some might be surprised to see this, he said he was glad Sunak had asked him for help. “Of course I couldn't say no,” he added.
“Whatever our differences, they are absolutely trivial compared with the disaster we could face if these so-called opinion polls are correct,” Johnson said.
Johnson, one of the most recognizable figures in British politics and a proven electoral winner, has spent almost the entire campaign on the sidelines, having quit frontline politics in 2023. He has endorsed individual candidates in video messages but has never before appeared at major campaign events.
Sunak, who appeared after – but not alongside – Johnson on stage, thanked his predecessor.
“Isn't it great to have our conservative family together, my friends?” he said.
