Boris Johnson favourite to be next PM after electrifying Tory Conference and rousing Brexit vision
The Foreign Secretary said the decision to leave the EU was a 'democratic revolution' and insisted it was time to let the 'lion roar' to make Brexit a success
BORIS Johnson has insisted it is time to “let the lion roar” as he heralded Britain for “having the guts” for Brexit.
In a barnstorming speech to the Tory faithful, the Foreign Secretary insisted leaving the EU would be a huge success if politicians back the ingenuity and hard-working spirit of the British people.
The 53-year-old also hailed it as “a privilege” to be a member of the Cabinet and in charge of “this amazing country at a critical moment in our history”.
Leaving the Manchester conference delighted with his upbeat vision, Tory MP supporters also insisted it marked him out as the party’s next leader.
Boris told the hall: “Once again this country has had the guts to try to do something new and different, to challenge received wisdom with a democratic revolution that we can turn into a cultural and technological and commercial renaissance.
“We can win the future because we are the party that believes in this country and we believe in the potential of the British people.
“It is up to us now – in the traditional non-threatening, genial and self-deprecating way of the British – to let that lion roar.”
Boris also used his conference address to publicly back down in his Brexit stand-off with Theresa May.
Having set her four red lines on the post-Brexit transition deal and future trade relationship, Mr Johnson retreated to declare he now backs “every comma, every full stop, every syllable” of the PM’s key Florence speech two weeks ago.
He also heaped slavish praise on the Premier, insisting that “the whole country owes her a debt for her steadfastness in taking Britain forward, as she will, to a great Brexit deal”.
Theresa May loyalists accused him of a U-turn, and continued to attack the mop-haired Tory chief for undermining the PM throughout the conference.
But backbencher Nadine Dorries insisted the speech proved Boris must be one of two candidates that go in front of the party membership in the race one day to succeed Mrs May.
Insisting he was still their darling, Ms Dorries tweeted: “If we MPs denied them that choice - then God help us”.
In his speech, which won him loud cheers and a standing ovation, Boris also issued a series of withering attacks on Brexit doubters – seen as a thinly veiled attack on his Cabinet nemesis, softer Brexit backer Philip Hammond.
Boris said: “It is time to stop treating the referendum result as though it were a plague of boils or a murrain on our cattle, or an inexplicable aberration by 17.4 m people.
“It is time to be bold, and to seize the opportunities and there is no country better placed than Britain.”
He also took a pot shot at the pro-EU newspaper, the Financial Times, for undermining the UK’s negotiating hand saying: “Every day, a distinguished pink newspaper manages to make Eeyore look positively exuberant.
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“Across the world the impression is being given that this country is not up to it, that we are going to bottle out of Brexit and end up in some dingy ante-room of the EU, pathetically waiting for the scraps but no longer in control of the menu.”
Boris also revealed to the hall that he has publicly patched up relations with Environment Secretary Michael Gove, by calling him “my friend” from the podium.
His former running mate brutally knifed Boris during the party’s leadership contest in June last year.
The Tory faithful also lapped up a brutal assault on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s 1970s-style Socialist vision, branding it “zombie fingers straining for the levers of power”.
Boris had the crowd in stitches when he joked: “We want a country with a government that works for everyone.
“Corbyn wants a Britain where everyone works for the government.”
Bookies Ladbrokes slashed Boris’s odds of becoming the next Tory leader after his successful conference speech down to 4-1, making him the clear favourite.
Mrs May was forced to insist Boris’s interventions had not undermined her, despite his new declaration of loyalty.
Saying she liked Boris’s outspokenness, the PM insisted she wanted her Cabinet to be “a team of people who aren’t yes men, with different views around the table”.
She told the BBC: "It doesn't undermine what I am doing at all.
“There is a lot of talk about Boris's job or this job or that job inside the Cabinet.
“Actually, what people are concerned about - they don't want us to be thinking about our jobs, they want us to be thinking about their jobs and their futures."
The PM also revealed she had carefully scrutinised Boris’s podium address before he delivered it, saying: "His speech has been looked at, don't worry".
Home Secretary Amber Rudd slapped down arch-rival Boris’s Brexit red lines, insisting: “They are not for him to set. They are for the prime minister to set”.
And asked whether she thought Boris could continue speaking out, Ms Rudd joked: “Every time he stops making interventions we all breathe a sigh of relief.”
But fellow Leave campaigner Mr Gove praised Boris last night, saying: “The Prime Minister gave a fantastic speech in Florence two weeks ago.
“As Boris pointed articulated with great vim and vigour, the Cabinet is united behind Theresa.”
Diary:
- DAVID Davis ended his speech by saying: “Now it’s time to fall over” — a dig at Damian Green who stumbled off the podium on Sunday.
- TORY donors were puzzled to see Labour’s Andy Burnham holding court in their private lounge.
- PATRONISING MP George Freeman patted Jacob Rees-Mogg and said he would be more suited to Commons Speaker than Prime Minister.
- TORY fanboys have taken to chanting “Oh, James Cleverly” when they say the rising star is outside bet for next leader.