Boris Johnson misses Tory election campaign for 60th birthday holiday
Boris Johnson will not be part of the Tory election campaign as he will be away on holiday celebrating his 60th birthday.
Johnson, who turned 60 on Wednesday, is on a holiday that was planned long in advance of Rishi Sunak calling a surprise summer election.
He is not expected to be seen on the campaign trail for the next two weeks. Instead, he has been writing letters of endorsement and backing a number of Tories in social media posts.
Johnson's team says he acted in line with what party headquarters have asked him to do.
When asked by journalists during a campaign visit to East Anglia whether Johnson’s absence from the trail would be preferable given he may not appeal to so-called “blue wall” voters, Mr Sunak said, “No.”
He added: “I’m grateful he’s supporting the Conservative Party. He’s provided lots of endorsements to candidates across the country.”
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said the former Conservative leader is "clearly an asset" to the Tory campaign and is offering support in the “modern way” by making promotional videos for individual candidates from afar.
“That’s probably quite an effective way of getting a message across,” Mr Stride told Sky News.
“I mean, Boris is clearly an asset to the campaign, he has clearly chosen to get involved and he’s clearly urging people to vote Conservatives.”
The former prime minister led the Tories to a landslide victory in 2019, which collapsed the so-called “red wall” in the Midlands and North of England.
The Times reported that an original plan to deploy Johnson to such constituencies has been abandoned amid bleak projections for the party that continue to put it on course for a historic defeat at the polls on July 4.
The PM, whose resignation as chancellor in Johnson’s Cabinet was instrumental in his downfall, said his endorsements “will make a difference” as a poll on Tuesday found that the Tories could be reduced to just 115 seats.
Sunak has said the endorsements are being coordinated by party HQ, but Andrea Jenkyns, a staunch Johnson ally standing in the seat of Leeds South West and Morley, suggested his support was more targeted.
“Boris has helped candidates who have reached out to him as you’ve seen with the videos online,” she said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“He’s (Johnson) keen to help those of us that have been loyal to him. But he’s NOT an official part of the campaign. Rishi hasn’t spoken to him since the campaign began.”
During an LBC phone-in on Wednesday, Sunak avoided answering questions about whether Johnson would join him on the trail.
On being told it was the former prime minister’s birthday, he responded: “Happy birthday Boris. I hope he’s having a good day… And it has been great having him support the Conservative Party”.
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