Boris Johnson tells Tories to 'get behind' Theresa May in WhatsApp message as MPs show their support

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has been accused of mounting a leadership bid himself
AFP/Getty Images
Tom Powell7 October 2017
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Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has urged colleagues to “get behind” Theresa May in a group WhatsApp message.

He told Tories to “talk about nothing except policies” from now on because “people are fed up of this malarkey”.

It comes after former Tory chairman Grant Shapps said he had the backing of around 30 MPs in his call for a leadership contest.

Mr Johnson’s message, published by the BBC, said: “Folks I am away but just read all this!

Theresa May - In pictures

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“See amber piece this am.

“She is right right right.

“We have JUST HAD AN ELECTION and people are fed up with all this malarkey.

“Get behind the pm. Ordinary punters I have spoken to thought her speech was good and anyone can have a cold.

“Circle the wagons turn the fire on Corbyn and talk about nothing except our great policies and what we can do for the country.”

Mrs May brushed aside calls from rebel Tory MPs to stand aside and said she had the "full support" of her Cabinet in her first public appearance since her mishap-strewn conference speech.

Arriving for a charity event in her Maidenhead constituency, the Prime Minister was determined to present an image of business as normal.

'Calm': Theresa May arriving for a Macmillan Cancer charity coffee event in Reading
Yui Mok/PA

"Now what the country needs is calm leadership, and that's what I am providing with the full support of my Cabinet," she said.

"Next week I am going to be updating MPs on my Florence speech, which has given real momentum to the Brexit talks, and I will also be introducing a draft Bill to cap energy prices, which will stop ordinary working families from being ripped off."

Ruth Davidson, the party’s leader in Scotland, backed Mrs May and urged MPs to "let her get back to governing".

Tory MP Michael Fabricant described Mr Shapps as "embittered" while colleague Vicky Ford dismissed Mr Shapps as "completely out of touch", revealing "he's not even in our WhatsApp group".

Mr Shapps was reportedly later added to the group on the app, simply so colleagues could make clear their fury at his move.

But a Tory source said some of the public displays of loyalty from fellow Conservatives were "totally hypocritical" because they privately wanted her to go.

"Quite literally some of the people who are swearing their loyalty, Kim Jong Un-style, privately hold precisely the opposite views," the source said.

Mr Johnson's intervention came after he faced calls to be sacked for destabilising the party following his intervention on Brexit on the eve of conference and his controversial remarks about Libya at a fringe event.

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