Category: #ToryLeadershipContest

#ToryLeadershipContest

Boris Johnson refuses to appear on Sky Tory leadership debate

From The Guardian: Boris Johnson’s refusal to face public scrutiny as he runs for the Conservative party leadership has prompted Sky News to cancel a televised debate this week.

The broadcaster said that unless Johnson agreed to take part in the debate on Tuesday it would not go ahead. Instead it offered an alternative date of 1 July in an effort to get him and his fellow contender, Jeremy Hunt, to appear.
 
Hunt had agreed to take part in Tuesday’s debate and urged Johnson to join him. But Johnson’s team has repeatedly refused to say whether he plans to take part as it continues to restrict his media appearances.

More Boris Johnson neighbours confirm ‘tear-up’ with partner

From The Guardian: Neighbours of the man who overheard a row between Boris Johnson and his partner Carrie Symonds, prompting a late-night police callout, have corroborated his account of the incident with one saying the “tear-up” led him to believe that someone was being murdered.

Another neighbour who heard the row, Earl McDermott, was reported as saying: “It was a proper tear-up. Glasses being smashed, screaming and a lot of arguing. I thought someone was being murdered.”
 
Nursery worker Fatimah, also a neighbour, backed up Penn’s account. “There was a lot of shouting, a lady was screaming and I could hear glasses or plates being thrown quite a few times,” she said. “The man was shouting back. I could hear it through my walls. It was obvious the lady was angry. She was screaming hysterically.”
 
Fatimah had earlier told another newspaper she had considered calling the police herself before officers arrived at the scene. Her husband, Imran, added that his wife had been frightened by the incident.

Hunt to face Johnson amid rumours of tactical voting in Tory leadership race

From The Guardian: Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt will battle it out to become Britain’s next prime minister after a day of drama at Westminster that saw Johnson’s team accused of conniving to knock his bitter rival Michael Gove out of the race.

The environment secretary drew narrowly ahead of Hunt in the fourth round of voting among Tory MPs on Thursday, which saw Sajid Javid knocked out.

But when the results of the fifth and final round were announced at 6pm, Hunt had narrowly beaten Gove, by 77 votes to 75.

Suspicions were raised by the fact that Johnson’s vote increased by just three MPs between the rounds, from 157 to 160 – despite the fact that at least four Javid supporters had publicly declared their backing for Johnson, during a nail-biting afternoon of lobbying in Westminster’s wood-panelled corridors.

[Read full article on Guardian website…]

Tory members happy to trash UK economy and destroy their own party to get Brexit, poll finds

From The Independent: Conservative Party members would happily support the break-up of the UK, “significant damage” to the British economy and even the destruction of their own party in order to secure Brexit, a poll has found.

[Read article on Independent website…]