Boris Johnson accused of rigging vote after ‘fans vote for Jeremy Hunt’ to exact revenge on nemesis Michael Gove
BORIS Johnson was last night accused of vote rigging to knock out his nemesis Michael Gove from the final two in the fight for No10.
After a knife edge fifth round of elimination voting in the Commons, Jeremy Hunt just pipped Michael Gove to second place in the contest by just two votes, 77 v 75.
The Foreign Secretary and his predecessor in the job Boris now enter a four week-long run off from 150,000 Conservative Party members to pick from.
Boris again stormed the vote, taking runaway first place with 160 backers - more than half of all 313 Tory MPs.
But angry accusations flew after it emerged Mr Johnson only put on three extra votes from Sajid Javid’s 34 supporters, when the Home Secretary was knocked out earlier in the day.
Environment Secretary Mr Gove’s camp claimed BoJo’s campaign boss, Gavin Williamson, secretly lent Mr Hunt around 15-20 votes to ensure he triumphed.
A Gove campaign source told The Sun: “Boris and Michael were getting half of Sajid’s votes each, few were going to Hunt.
“So what happened? You join up the dots. If you’ve got a big lead, you can do what you want with that.
“No, it’s not cricket, but it is politics”.
JOHNSON'S NEMESIS OUT
Another prominent Gove supporter, Education Secretary Damian Hinds, added: “Vote lending, tactical voting. This is a sophisticated and complex electorate; don’t be surprised when people think about how to work things”.
Boris supporters see the straight-laced former Remainer as an easier candidate to face, rather than his fellow former Leave campaign boss.
Other Tory MPs saw the vote lending as long-awaited revenge on Mr Gove for knifing Boris in the last Tory leadership contest in 2016.
With around 90 Tory MPs voting by proxy yesterday, some may not even have known their vote had been cast for someone else if votes were lent.
Embarrassed by claims of dark arts on Thursday, Mr Johnson instructed aides to make it clear he had not sanctioned any vote lending.
Asked by The Sun if he knew about any ‘dark arts’ operations, Boris said: “Noooo”.
I’m the underdog - but in politics surprises happen as they did today
Jeremy Hunt
A Boris campaign source added: “None of this was authorised by Boris. We do know that Gavin Williamson has been freelancing though”.
The dramatic result followed an electric afternoon of high drama in Westminster.
Mr Gove dramatically overtook Mr Hunt in the earlier ballot that knocked out Mr Javid, leading him by 61 v 59.
The result’s announcement just after 1pm sparked a desperate final fight to win over the Home Secretary’s backers.
Tory grandees mounted a bid to stop the “Tory psychodrama” of long running enemies Mr Gove and Mr Johnson taking lumps out of each other for a month as the nation looked on.
Hunt backer, Trade Secretary Liam Fox warned: “It would be a very odd dynamic to have two ex-journalists fighting for the Premiership of the country”.
But in a bid to stop Boris, Mr Javid’s most prominent backer Scots Tory leader Ruth Davidson immediately transferred her public support to Mr Gove.
Oh, no! Car woe
BORIS JOHNSON has been slapped with two parking tickets on his shabby green Toyota.
Wardens fined the Tory leadership favourite for leaving his family car parked outside his south London home illegally.
The first ticket was issued as he was preparing for Tuesday’s BBC leadership debate and he was fined again yesterday.
Just before the final ballot opened at 3.30pm, Gove’s campaign chief Mel Stride texted dozens of Boris-backing Brexiteer MPs to issue a desperate appeal to them to switch to his man.
In the text - obtained by The Sun - Mr Stride said: “I know you backed Boris in earlier rounds. I wanted to ask you to consider supporting Michael Gove now so that we can have two Brexiteers in the final run off”.
After the result at 6pm, Boris backer ex-Cabinet minister Sir Michael Fallon said a BoJo v Hunt run off is “better for the party because it’s a clearer choice with different approaches to Brexit”.
And he said the party should be pleased it had avoided the “psychodrama” of a Boris v Gove battle to the death.
Johnson and Hunt’s success mean Britain’s next Prime Minister will be an Englishman aged 52-55, who was educated at a major public school and then Oxford University.
Declaring he was “deeply honoured”, Boris last night thanks his supporters and tweeted: “I look forward to getting out across the UK and to set out my plan to deliver Brexit, unite our country, and create a brighter future for all of us”.
Meanwhile, Mr Hunt immediately billed himself as “the underdog in this race”, adding: “I’ve been the underdog right from the start and I like to prove people wrong.
It’s been an honour to be able to set out a vision for the future of our great country
Michael Gove
“The way I’m going to win this race is by showing that the best way to Brexit is by sending the European Union a Prime Minister they can engage with.”
Mr Gove said he was “naturally disappointed but so proud of the campaign we ran”, adding: “It’s been an honour to be able to set out a vision for the future of our great country. Many congratulations to Boris and Jeremy!”.
In a message to all his supporters, Mr Javid said he was “truly humbled by the support I have received from colleagues and Conservatives around the country”.
He added: “We ran to win, but I am incredibly proud of the race we have run together”.
While refusing to endorse any of the remaining three for now, he called on the winner to carry out “a bold policy agenda”.
The final two contenders now face an exhaustive schedule of 16 different hustings events across the country in front of party members.
Having shied away from almost all media grillings previously, Boris also last night confirmed he will take part in a head to head TV debate with Mr Hunt hosted by ITV1 on July 9.
The Sun Says
BORIS Johnson vs Jeremy Hunt looks like a terrible final. We hope we’re wrong.
We have great respect for Mr Hunt and congratulate him. He is a decent man and an excellent Foreign Secretary, unfairly maligned by the Left during his long, tough stint at Health. He has run a terrific campaign.
But the Tories won’t want a reformed Remainer in charge now. They want a committed Brexiteer to deliver Brexit, then win votes all over the country.
Boris is vastly more likely to do that. Which is why he is miles ahead with MPs and, more importantly, members.
The Tories should use this contest to produce the best, most achievable Brexit plan. That may be a combination of both candidates’ ideas, though there’s not a huge difference between them.
Then they need the man most capable of winning the election which seems inevitable, before unifying Britain in a way Corbyn’s Marxists can never do.
Mr Hunt is a good operator and a self-made millionaire used to tough negotiations, but we cannot see that beating Boris’s charisma. It would take a miracle or a Boris implosion.
We were sorry to see Home Secretary Sajid Javid lose out. His campaign won him many new fans. And Michael Gove is a tremendous orator, reformer and Brexiteer who would have given Boris a stiffer challenge than any of his rivals.
But Johnson v Hunt it is. Bring it on.
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Mr Johnson tweeted: “Count me in! Really looking forward to a debate of ideas”.
Conservative Party members will receive postal ballots between the 6th to 8th July, and the result will be announced in the week commencing July 22.
Tory party chairman Brandon Lewis said: “We are conscious that the Conservatives are not just selecting a new leader but also the next Prime Minister, and we take that responsibility extremely seriously at such an important time for our nation”.
Vote spoil 'numpties'
TWO Tory MPs spoilt their ballot papers yesterday in protest at the remaining candidates.
But party bosses refused to reveal what was written on them apart from to say there were “no obscenities” and “no penises”.
Brexiteer Mark Francois branded the unknown pair “numpties”.
Two votes were spoilt in the fourth round of voting yesterday morning and one in the fifth and final round.
Rory Stewart, who was knocked out on Wednesday, denied he did one of them.
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