After a series of painful Cabinet resignations, Boris Johnson’s wife Carrie allegedly persuaded him to resign as prime minister, telling him that “the game was up.”
According to one Whitehall insider, ex-Conservative party staffer Carrie Johnson broke her husband’s “state of denial” with a candid talk on Wednesday evening.
Mr Johnson informed aides of his intention to resign on Thursday morning.
That morning, Downing Street officials told the BBC’s Today programme of his plans, with the No 10 resignation speech scheduled for midday.
According to a Whitehall source, the PM walked up to his flat at 11 p.m. on Wednesday to spend the night with Carrie, son Wilf, 2, and baby daughter Romy.
They told The Sunday Mirror: ‘Boris then talked through his predicament with Carrie who has an astute political brain. She told him she thought the game was up, but they agreed to sleep on it.
‘The PM had been angry all day. In a real state of denial and determined to stick in. He kept going on about his personal mandate like a broken record.
‘The press team had taken the phones off the hook by mid-afternoon because they said it was unfair for anyone to have to go out and defend him.’
Denis Thatcher, Margaret Thatcher’s husband, gave her the same harsh but kind advise in November 1990.
Petronella Wyatt, a journalist and Mr Johnson’s ex-girlfriend, tweeted today that Boris will run for Tory leadership.
That would appear to be a breach of the 1922 Committee rules.
The rumour was shot down by Number Ten, who told the reporters, ‘Not true.’
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, newly appointed Chancellor Nadim Zahawi, and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps all entered the Conservative leadership campaign today.
They join ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak, chair of the foreign affairs committee Tom Tugendhat, attorney general Suella Braverman, and ex-levelling up secretary Kemi Badenoch in launching bids.
Earlier, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that he will not run for party leader and Prime Minister following “careful consideration” and consultation with colleagues and family.
Trade minister Penny Mordaunt and former health secretaries Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt are other possible candidates.
Tory MP Mark Francois predicts at least 12 people will put their names forward.
He told GB News: ‘It looks like this is going to be the Grand National but without the fences, so we are probably heading for at least a dozen candidates at the moment.’
Mr Shapps announced his candidacy in The Sunday Times, saying he wants to rebuild the economy so that it is the largest in Europe by 2050, as well as solve the cost-of-living problem.
According to the publication, he plans to create his campaign website and name his supporters in the following hours.
Ms Badenoch launched her candidacy in The Times, proposing a smaller state and a government that is “focused on the essentials.”