Boris Johnson has met supporters in the Conservative parliamentary party ahead of an expected bid for the leadership this week as potential rivals begin to flex their muscles.
As the former London mayor met allies at his country retreat in Oxfordshire yesterday, senior figures in the party who opposed Brexit cast doubt on his credentials to succeed David Cameron as prime minister.
The 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs will meet today to plan the leadership contest after Mr Cameron announced last Friday that he was stepping down following the EU referendum.
The committee is expected to open nominations for the leadership tomorrow, setting in motion a contest that will see MPs select two candidates to go before the party membership.
Mr Johnson, who is the clear favourite to succeed Mr Cameron, has won the support of justice secretary Michael Gove, who chaired the Vote Leave campaign.
But foreign secretary Philip Hammond warned the frontrunner would face searching questions about the credibility of some of the claims he advanced during the campaign.
“The key Leave campaigners made contradictory promises to the British people. I’m sorry to say that but they did. Boris is one of those,” Mr Hammond said.
“Now they will have to resolve that by explaining how they will balance the trade-offs . . . between the different things they promised which are mutually incompatible. That will be hugely disappointing to a lot of people in this country who voted Leave.
“How that trade-off is made is the key question now for the future prosperity of this country.”
Formidable rival
Although a number of MPs have tested the waters over the weekend regarding a leadership bid, home secretary Theresa May is regarded as Mr Johnson's most formidable likely rival.
Ms May backed Remain during the referendum campaign but did so with the utmost reticence. Leave campaigner Iain Duncan Smith said, however, that the prime minister to negotiate Britain's departure from the EU should be someone who campaigned for Brexit.
"It would be very, very difficult for the public who have voted for leaving the European Union to find that they then had a prime minister who actually was opposed to leaving the European Union," he said.
“There was a clear decision, and what has to happen is delivery on that, and somebody who has been involved in that clearly has to be the case, because the government itself had a view . . . which was to remain, so now we need to change that position and actually deliver on this very clear mandate from the British people.”
Other leadership candidates could include work and pensions secretary Stephen Crabb, whose background as the child of a single mother who grew up in a council estate stands in sharp contrast to that of Mr Johnson, an Old Etonian. Education secretary Nicky Morgan, a protege of chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne, and former defence secretary Liam Fox are among the other names mooted.
Conservative contenders:
Boris Johnson
The undisputed star of the Leave campaign and one of the most popular and charismatic politicians in Britain, the former London mayor is the clear favourite to succeed David Cameron. His greatest challenge is the intense hostility towards him among Cameron’s allies but if Johnson is on the ballot for the broader Conservative membership, he will be difficult to beat.
Theresa May
One of the longest-serving home secretaries in history, May backed Remain in the referendum but did so almost invisibly so may not have offended too many on the Leave side. Tipped as the strongest “stop Boris” candidate, she could be hampered by her chilly demeanour and lack of a following among MPs.
Stephen Crabb
Raised on a council estate by a single mother, the work and pensions secretary is, at 43, a rising star in the party. His background, Christian faith and embrace of self-reliance and hard work could help his party to appeal across class divisions. He would be the first prime minister with a beard since Lord Salisbury.
Nicky Morgan
The education secretary is a competent media performer from the centre-left of the party and a close ally of chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne. This, along with her prominent role in the Remain campaign, could make her unacceptable to large sections of the party.
