It makes you wonder if the tabloid tussle over Johnson’s return is just a ploy for clicks. In any case, would Johnson want to a second coming? He seems pretty busy making money, and babies.
Amid the wreckage of a devastating local election and dismal national polling that’s seen the Tories slump to fourth place behind the Lib Dems in some polls, the right-wing media has once again reached for its favourite politician, Boris Johnson.
Former MP Justine Greening warned in the Guardian that “out-Reforming Reform cannot and does not work.” Yet instead of confronting Reform with fresh ideas and credible leadership, the right-wing press is clinging to the fantasy of a Boris Johnson comeback.
“Most Tory voters want to ditch Badenoch and bring back Johnson,” declared the Telegraph this week, citing polling that showed 60 percent of 2019 Conservative voters think Johnson would be a better leader than Kemi Badenoch. Additionally, 45 percent of the same voters said a new leader could make them more likely to vote Tory again, compared to just 8 percent who said it would put them off.
Johnson also performs well among Reform voters, with 50 percent preferring him over Badenoch. But the Telegraph was forced to acknowledge the limits of his appeal, with only a third of the general public saying he’d be a better leader for the party.
Undeterred, the Express seized on the numbers with its own breathless headline: “Boris Johnson handed huge comeback boost in major new poll.” The paper even launched its own reader poll: “Should Boris Johnson return to politics?”
Meanwhile, GB News, the unofficial broadcast arm of Nigel Farage, was quick to pour cold water on the comeback fantasy.
“Boris Johnson’s comeback plot faces ‘Nigel Farage problem’,” the network reported, quoting Reform insiders who dismissed Johnson as “irrelevant” and warned he’d struggle to win a seat at all.
“He and the Tories would have to be very brave,” said one Farage ally.
In a separate piece, the broadcaster claimed the “Boris Johnson comeback bid scuppered as ex-PM fails to win over Reform UK voters.”
The article cites new YouGov data which shows that just 15 percent of Reform supporters think Johnson would be a better pick for prime minister than Nigel Farage.
It makes you wonder if the tabloid tussle over Johnson’s return is just a ploy for clicks. The former PM might still stir nostalgia among a shrinking Tory base, but if he’s their best hope, the Conservatives aren’t just in trouble, they’re hopelessly out of ideas. In any case, would Johnson want to a second coming? He seems pretty busy making money, and babies.
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