‘Boris connects with voters the Tories do not reach’: James Cleverly explains why he switched to backing Johnson after withdrawing from the race to succeed Theresa May and maintains frontrunner has not offered him a job in return
- Mr Cleverly spoke about standing ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with Boris in London
- He denied after being offered a job after pulling out of the race on Tuesday
- Also spoke about how he ‘foolishly’ took marijuana when he was a teenager
The Brexit minister said the former Foreign Secretary can reach ‘voters that the Conservative Party would not normally expect to be on side’
Former Tory leadership contender James Cleverly has revealed he is backing Boris Johnson to be the next Prime Minister.
The Brexit minister said the former Foreign Secretary can reach ‘voters that the Conservative Party would not normally expect to be on side’.
Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday after dropping out of the race to succeed Theresa May, he said he was supporting Mr Johnson’s candidacy having worked with him while he was Mayor of London.
‘I’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with him in two election campaigns both in 2008 and 2012,’ he said.
‘I’ve seen him reach out to audiences and voters that the Conservative Party would not normally expect to be on side.
‘I know he can run a successful executive operation because I was part of the team that did that for eight years, so that’s why I’m supporting him for leader.’
Mr Cleverly pulled out of the leadership race on Tuesday after contest rules were overhauled to weed out no-hopers. Kit Malthouse also dropped out, reducing the number of declared candidates to 11.
Speaking today, Mr Cleverly denied choosing to back Mr Johnson because he had been offered a job, and addressed claims he had previously made saying he would be a better PM.
‘What matters is what other MPs think,’ he said. ‘I wanted to be in it to win it, when I realised I couldn’t I pulled out.’
Mr Cleverly also addressed the fallout from rival Michael Gove’s admission that he had taken cocaine ‘on several social occasions’.
The MP for Braintree, who has already admitted to taking marijuana, said: ‘I feel very strongly that when you do foolish things in your youth you need to reflect on those things and be honest about what you’ve done.’
The 11 Tory MPs who have already declared they will stand are: Cabinet ministers Jeremy Hunt, Sajid Javid, Rory Stewart, Matt Hancock and Michael Gove, and former ministers Andrea Leadsom, Esther McVey, Dominic Raab, Boris Johnson, Mark Harper and Sam Gyimah.
Mrs May will step down as Tory leader on Friday with nominations for her replacement closing on Monday. The party has said that it wants a new leader in place by the end of July.
Mr Cleverly denied choosing to back Mr Johnson (pictured on June 5) because he had been offered a job, and addressed claims he had previously made saying he would be a better PM
What do the candidates for the Tory leadership think about Brexit?
The Conservative leadership race is ramping up ahead of nominations opening on Monday as the contenders continue to declare their credentials for the top job.
Here are the runners and riders:
– Boris Johnson
The former foreign secretary, who played a key role in the Vote Leave campaign at the 2016 referendum, is widely seen as the front-runner.
On Brexit, he has committed to keeping the October 31 deadline even if that means leaving without a deal and said he would step up no-deal preparations.
He also said he would refuse to pay the promised £39 billion to the European Union unless better Brexit terms are on offer.
Key quote: ‘I truly believe only I can steer the country between the Scylla and Charybdis of Corbyn and Farage and on to calmer water.’
What he’s said about drugs: Confessed to trying cocaine and smoking cannabis as a teenager at Oxford in a magazine interview in 2007.
Backers: James Brokenshire, Gavin Williamson, Steve Baker.
– Jeremy Hunt
The Foreign Secretary has ruled nothing out on Brexit, but insists that his experience as a negotiator in both business and politics means he could go to Brussels and secure a better deal.
He has said he would keep a no-deal Brexit on the table, but warned it could be ‘political suicide’ for the Conservatives as Parliament would force a general election.
He has called for a big increase in defence spending after Britain leaves the EU to counter rising global threats and has suggested slashing corporation tax to Irish levels of 12.5% to attract investment.
Key quote: ‘We will absolutely be obliterated in an election if we haven’t delivered Brexit.’
What he’s said about drugs: Told The Times he had a ‘cannabis lassi’, a yoghurt-based drink, when he was backpacking through India in his youth.
Backers: Liam Fox, Greg Hands, Mark Field.
– Dominic Raab
The former Brexit secretary has set out an uncompromising approach in a bid to appeal to hardline Eurosceptics.
He wants Brussels to ditch the Irish backstop as part of a new agreement, but if the EU will not move on the issue, he will walk away without a deal on October 31 – and has not ruled out suspending Parliament to ensure that MPs cannot block the UK’s exit.
He also wants to toughen up community sentences and has promised a shake-up of maternity care.
Key quote: ‘We need to up our game, which means being less naive, and being absolutely resolute about our intention and our resolve to leave on October 31. It seems to me that I’m the only candidate in this race that is clear about that.’
What he’s said about drugs: Has admitted taking cannabis as a student.
Backers: David Davis, Nadhim Zahawi, Maria Miller.
– Michael Gove
The Environment Secretary, who scuppered Mr Johnson’s last leadership bid in 2016, is again positioning himself in opposition to the front-runner.
Unlike Mr Johnson, he has not ruled out seeking a further delay to Brexit – possibly for months beyond October 31 – if a deal is in reach, and warned pursuing a no-deal scenario could lead to a general election in which Jeremy Corbyn could enter Number 10.
He has set out a ‘pro-business economic plan’ to take on Mr Corbyn’s ‘Marxist message’ and said he would replace VAT after Brexit with a ‘lower, simpler’ sales tax.
Key quote: ‘If I am prime minister of this country I want to ensure it’s the best place in the world to live, learn, raise a family, achieve your potential, and start and run a business.’
What he’s said about drugs: Said he ‘deeply regrets’ taking cocaine ‘on several occasions’ two decades ago.
Backers: Mel Stride, Nicky Morgan, Ed Vaizey.
– Rory Stewart
The International Development Secretary has travelled around the country filming himself chatting to voters in a bid to raise his profile in the race.
A Remainer who now accepts the referendum vote, he has ruled out a no-deal Brexit and would establish a citizens’ assembly to thrash out a new Brexit compromise.
He has also pledged to protect the Conservatives’ ‘reputation for economic competence’, hitting out at the ‘unfunded spending commitments’ made by rivals.
Key quote: ‘Candidates that are advocating a no-deal Brexit as well as tax cuts will – in one afternoon in October – lose us a reputation that we have spent 300 years building up.’
What he’s said about drugs: Has apologised for smoking opium at a wedding in Iran.
Backers: David Gauke, Ken Clarke, Nicholas Soames.
– Sajid Javid
The Home Secretary hopes to renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement to remove the Irish backstop but does not want a delay beyond October 31.
He has set out a plan to tackle the Irish border issue by spending hundreds of millions on a technological solution, saying the UK has a moral duty to pay for measures at the border in an effort to secure a breakthrough.
Mr Javid has put forward a number of policy proposals, including cutting the top rate of income tax and establishing a £100 billion fund to invest in the UK’s infrastructure.
Key quote: ‘We will not beat the Brexit Party by becoming the Brexit Party.’
What he’s said about drugs: Has denied ever taking drugs.
Backers: Ruth Davidson, Jeremy Wright, Chris Skidmore.
– Matt Hancock
The Health Secretary insists a no-deal Brexit is not a credible option and Parliament would never allow it.
He has set out a Brexit delivery plan to leave by October 31, including establishing an Irish border council, made up of UK and Irish officials, to prevent the return of a hard border and time-limiting the backstop.
He has also pledged to scrap business rates for small retailers and increase a tax on internet companies to ‘level the playing field’ for high streets, and has set out his vision for a foreign policy that boosts trade and ‘resists protectionism’, while also promising to ‘uphold our values’.
Key quote: ‘If in order to deliver Brexit we were to change who we are as a country we would have failed.’
What he’s said about drugs: Is understood to have tried cannabis as a student but has not used drugs since university.
Backers: Damian Green, Tracey Crouch, Caroline Spelman.
– Andrea Leadsom
The former leader of the Commons, who ran against Mrs May for the party leadership in 2016, was another prominent member of the Vote Leave campaign.
She has set out a plan to scrap the Withdrawal Agreement and instead ‘massively ramp up’ preparations for a ‘managed’ exit without a full deal.
Mrs Leadsom has also promised to tackle climate change at home and abroad and establish a cross-party commission to find a solution to funding social care, and has warned that bold tax-cutting pledges could easily be blocked by Parliament.
Key quote: ‘I truly believe in the bright future that awaits us once we leave the EU. And I think I have the best plan that I’ve seen for delivering a managed exit.’
What she’s said about drugs: Told the Independent that she ‘smoked weed at university and have never smoked it again since’.
Backers: Chris Heaton-Harris, Heather Wheeler, Derek Thomas
– Sam Gyimah
As the only contender open to a second referendum, the former universities minister is widely seen as a rank outsider.
His five-point plan would give MPs a ‘final chance’ to get a Brexit deal through Parliament while also preparing for a referendum if that failed.
The public would be offered a binding choice between a no-deal Brexit, a revised deal or remaining in the EU.
Key quote: ‘The world won’t wait for Westminster, no matter how loudly we shout, and no matter how damaging a prolonged Brexit process is for Britain.’
What he’s said about drugs: Has denied taking any drugs.
Backers: Dominic Grieve, Guto Bebb, Phillip Lee
– Esther McVey
The committed Brexiteer has said she would fill her Cabinet with fellow believers.
She has called for the Tories to ’embrace’ a no-deal Brexit in order to make sure the UK leaves on October 31.
Elsewhere, she has caused controversy with comments championing the right of parents to take their children out of lessons on same-sex relationships.
Key quote: ‘I think you need to have people who believe in Brexit to deliver this by October 31.’
What she’s said about drugs: A spokesman told The Telegraph she ‘has never taken cocaine and never would’.
Backers: Pauline Latham, Phillip Davies, Andrew Lewer
– Mark Harper
A former Conservative chief whip and Remain supporter who now accepts the referendum result, Mr Harper acknowledges he is an underdog in the leadership race.
He has called for a ‘short, focused’ extension to allow for the deal to be renegotiated but said he would be prepared to leave with no deal if that is not possible.
He has claimed sticking to an undeliverable October 31 exit date could risk making Nigel Farage even stronger.
Key quote: ‘I know what people want to hear but I am not going to tell people what they want to hear if I don’t think it is credible.’
What he’s said about drugs: Has denied taking any drugs.
Backers: William Wragg, Jackie Doyle-Price, Scott Mann.
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