Boris and Rishi are locked in talks at summit as they battle for the Tory Party’s soul

Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak are holding crucial talks tonight as the battle to succeed Liz Truss intensifies before Britain’s new Prime Minister is chosen next week, with some suggesting the meeting could offer the best hope of healing the bitter divisions in Tory ranks.

The rivals were set to meet at 3.30pm but the meeting was delayed to this evening, after Mr Johnson cut his holiday to the Caribbean short to fly back to the UK this morning. He arrived with wife Carrie at Gatwick Airport at 10am before hitting the phones as he tried to win the backing of conservative MPs.

Former allies of the ex-PM have thrown their support behind Mr Sunak, with Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch endorsing him earlier this evening. Former chief of staff Steve Barclay and Brexit guru Lord Frost have also publicly backed Mr Sunak, along with Ministers Greg Hands, Chris Philp and Tom Tugendhat.

Many of Mr Johnson’s supporters had expected Ms Badenoch to back him in his bid to return to Downing Street. Her endorsement is expected to help unite much of the Tory right behind Mr Sunak. 

Mr Johnson’s camp claimed he had passed the crucial threshold of 100 MPs required for candidates to get on the ballot to be the next Conservative leader. 

However, Mr Sunak is so far the only candidate to be confirmed to have 100 Tory MPs backing him, and his allies challenged Johnson’s supporters to prove he had actually crossed the threshold. Some Conservative MPs have even suggested they could resign the whip if Mr Johnson returns as Prime Minister. 

Latest figures from the BBC put Mr Sunak at 127 backers, Mr Johnson at 53 and Ms Mordaunt at 23. 

It is thought that Mr Sunak could announce a leadership bid this evening, with Mr Johnson also throwing his hat into the ring, an insider told MailOnline.

As the race for the keys to No10 heats up:

• Penny Mordaunt became the first candidate to officially enter the race;
• Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak are expected to enter the contest imminently, perhaps as soon as this evening; 
• Bitter opponents of Mr Johnson warned they could resign the Tory whip and force by-elections if he wins, plunging the party into more chaos;
• Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will warn Britain’s new prime minister that they need to squeeze defence spending and axe a prison building programme to help balance the books;
• Former Tory leader William Hague said bringing back Mr Johnson was the worst idea he’d heard in 46 years as a party member;
• Allies of Mr Johnson said Tory MPs could cancel Parliament’s controversial Partygate probe into his conduct if he returns as prime minister;
• A poll put support for the Conservatives on a record low of 14 per cent – 39 points behind Labour;
• In a sign of the rancour in the party, veteran MP Sir Christopher Chope branded colleagues who forced out Miss Truss ‘hyenas’.

Ms Badenoch strongly endorsed Mr Sunak, comparing him to Margaret Thatcher and saying he was ‘the man for the job.’

She said in The Times: ‘I have, on occasion, been a member of the Boris Johnson fan club. Even when I resigned from his government, I acknowledged his many strengths. He has been an asset to the country during some very difficult times. 

‘However, I am an even bigger fan of Margaret Thatcher, a formidable politician who did not duck difficult decisions, was extremely prudent and successfully carried out major reforms by winning the argument and taking the public with her. 

‘Mrs Thatcher won the public’s trust and three elections in a row by making it about us, not about her. We need someone who can do the same. I believe that person is Rishi Sunak.’

The former PM’s father, Stanley Johnson, told GB News that his son has ‘unfinished business’, adding: ‘I think he will put his name forward and I think he will beat Rishi Sunak in a head to head.’ 

Mr Johnson now has ‘more than 100 backers’, according to The Times, Sky and BBC news, with the BBC’s Chris Mason Tweeting that the former premier ‘could be on the ballot if he chooses to be’. This number has not been seen in figures from Conservative Home.

Mr Johnson’s ally Sir James Duddridge claimed he has the backing of the 100 MPs required to be on Monday’s ballot but many of them have not publicly declared that support. 

Mr Mason added that the 100 figure is being branded as ‘hogwash’ and ‘absolute garbage’ by MPs backing other candidates.

There is speculation among backers of the old Downing Street neighbours that they could strike a deal to stand together, but this seems unlikely given how far apart the two are on key issues and how much they both want the top job.

Outgoing Prime Minister Truss, backed by Mr Johnson for the top job, is said to be preparing to support him in a return to Downing Street.

On Saturday morning former home secretary Priti Patel said she was backing Mr Johnson in the leadership race because he had a ‘proven track record’.

She tweeted: ‘Boris has the mandate to deliver our elected manifesto and a proven track record getting the big decisions right. I’m backing him in the leadership contest.’

Jacob Rees-Mogg and Ben Wallace have also declared their support for Mr Johnson, giving the former premier the backing of three high-profile Tories.

But there are concerns some centrist MPs could resign the Tory whip or even defect in protest as they regard him as unacceptable to lead. That could open the door for Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to force a snap election and trigger a Conservative wipeout.

A staggering poll today shows the Tories 39 points behind Labour – their lowest ever rating.

Former Cabinet minister David Gauke suggested Sir Keir should offer not to run candidates against Tory MPs who are willing to join a no-confidence vote.

Leadership hopeful Penny Mordaunt said the country faced ‘grave’ challenges as she made her case for a ‘fresh start’.

She tweeted: ‘The challenges facing the country are grave. Only with a fresh start, competent leadership, and a relentless focus on the people of the UK, can we address these issues head on.’

Ms Mordaunt, who kicked off her campaign with a video revealing ‘the real me’, has brought in Westminster digital strategy firm Millbank Creative to support on drumming up MP endorsements.

The move is being noticed by backbenchers, an insider told MailOnline.  

However, former ally Lord Frost, who led the UK’s negotiations with the EU, said Mr Johnson will ‘always be a hero for delivering Brexit’ but it is time to ‘move on’.

The former Chief Negotiator for Exiting the European Union David Frost tweeted his support for Mr Sunak, arguing the Tory Party ‘must get behind a capable leader’.

Lord Frost said: ‘Boris Johnson will always be a hero for delivering Brexit. But we must move on.

‘It is simply not right to risk repeating the chaos & confusion of the last year.

‘The Tory Party must get behind a capable leader who can deliver a Conservative programme. That is Rishi Sunak.’

He said Mr Sunak ‘understands the issues, can work the machine, and is a decent guy to boot’, adding ‘that’s what we need now’.

Lord Frost previously backed Liz Truss over Mr Sunak in the summer leadership contest.

Mr Johnson’s former Chief of Staff Steve Barclay, who had three promotions underneath Mr Johnson, has also endorsed Mr Sunak.

Mr Barclay, who became Secretary of State for Health and Social Care following the resignation of Sajid Javid in July, said Mr Sunak is best place to address the country’s economic challenges.

In a tweet the MP for North East Cambridgeshire said: ‘I’m backing Rishi Sunak to be leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister.

‘Our country faces significant economic challenges and Rishi is best placed to address this.’

Mail on Sunday Commentator Dan Hodges said that their endorsement ‘has come as a significant blow’ to Mr Johnson.

He added: ‘Understand Boris is currently talking on the phone to key parliamentary allies.’

The former prime minister’s father, Mr Johnson, told GN News that his son ‘wants to finish unfinished business’.

‘I have no idea whether Boris is going to be a candidate, you perhaps know more than I do,’ he said. ‘But what I will say is that I am looking for a candidate who will be very strong on environmental issues, who will be very strong on the need to bring us back closer to Europe and who will also be strong on some of these international issues like Net Zero and so on and so forth.

‘These are the things I’m looking for and of course not everyone is going to meet all these requirements but I do believe Boris on his record meets a lot of those. I would very much like to see him moving closer now. He is perhaps uniquely qualified to bring us back into a proper relationship with the EU than others might be.’

Mr Johnson has been personally calling to woo colleagues and assuring them he will definitely be a candidate, and allies have been offering assurances that Jeremy Hunt will not be sacked as Chancellor. 

Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and MP Andrew Stephenson said that Boris Johnson is ‘a tried and tested leader’ and it is time that the is back in power.

He told BBC Breakfast: ‘It will be the challenge for whoever is leader of the party to unite the party. I think it is important that all MPs respect the result of this election and unite behind our new leader.

‘I think what we have seen in the last few days is some of the MPs who resigned and called for Boris to go at the start of the summer have now said they would like to see him put himself forward. They’ve admitted they were wrong. I know that many others are waiting for him to make a decision before they go public.’

Ms Johnson’s supporters have been boasting he could end up with more than 140 nominations, easily passing the 100 threshold needed to make the ballot on Monday afternoon. 

However, as infighting in the party intensified critics swiped that his fans are noisy rather than numerous, predicting he will fall short of the numbers – while Mr Sunak is already well on his way to cresting that total. A Rishi camp MP said there was ‘limited scope’ for Mr Johnson because the pool is ‘mostly his old guard and Red Wall who are inexperienced and petrified’.

Another Sunakite suggested that Mr Johnson’s campaign is stalling and he will not run if he only gets 105 nominations because he is ‘thin-skinned’ and ‘only plays games he knows he can win’.

‘He wants to be Frank Sinatra doing a comeback tour and all the theatres are sold out. He won’t do it if they are half-empty,’ the MP jibed.

Mr Johnson returning would be a ‘Bobby in the shower moment’, according to a Tory source horrified at the prospect. ‘They are expecting the Tory Party to wake up and say Boris, thank God it was a dream.’

Former Tory leader William Hague, a supporter of Mr Sunak, claimed Mr Johnson returning as leader would send the Conservatives into a ‘death spiral’.

‘Him returning is the ‘solution’?,’ Lord Hague told Times Radio. ‘That would be going round in circles and that could become a death spiral of the Conservative Party.

‘And I think it’s possibly the worst idea I’ve heard of in the 46 years I’ve been a member of the Conservative Party.’

Boris Johnson must be thinking about whether it is ‘appropriate’ he should enter the leadership contest as he still faces a Privilege Committee investigation on ‘partygate’, according to Conservative MP Dame Maria Miller.

She told BBC Breakfast that ‘I certainly think that Boris Johnson would be thinking very long and hard as to whether it would be appropriate to put himself forward to lead our country at a time where … he is still subject to a very serious Privileges Committee investigation which could ultimately lead to him having to resign as minister.

‘I am sure he, who has put our country first in his life even when he was sick and in hospital during the pandemic would not want to jeopardise the stability of our country, again that is why I am supporting Penny Mordaunt because I think she brings that stability.

‘She can reach out to people who really need to have knowledge that they have got somebody in 10 Downing Street who really understands the struggles or ordinary people in this country.’

The SNP is preparing to fight a general election, the party’s Westminster leader said, as he insisted Scots will be ‘appalled’ at the prospect of Boris Johnson making a dramatic comeback as prime minister.

Ian Blackford said that ‘given everything that happened’ when Mr Johnson was in charge at Downing Street, it would be ‘beyond the pale’ for him to return.

‘It is almost beyond belief that the Conservatives would even consider this,’ the SNP MP told BBC Radio Scotland.

Asked if his party was now preparing for a general election, Mr Blackford said: ‘Yes of course we are.

‘We believe there should be a general election, this is a Conservative Government that has run out of time.’

An election is in the ‘national interest’, he insisted, saying this would ‘mean people have their right to have their say on this issue’.

Mr Blackford argued: ‘It shouldn’t just be down to Tory MPs and Tory members to pick the next prime minister.

‘Time really needs to be up for this Conservative Government.’

Former Conservative foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said reinstating Boris Johnson as prime minister would be the ‘worst example’ of putting the Tory party’s interest ahead of the public interest. 

He added: ‘Given that the vast majority of the public, including many Conservatives, are struggling with a cost-of-living increases that we’re all seeing and the problems of the economy, the prime minister must be somebody who’s economically coherent, who understands the economy, who has shown that he does understand it, and that he will be able to work closely with the chancellor in restoring our economic strength.

‘Now, in the case of Johnson, I’m afraid it’s not this. This is not a theoretical question. He was prime minister for two or three years, he showed no interest, never mind leadership on economic policy.’

He added that he is backing former chancellor Rishi Sunak because he is ‘by far the best’ of the contenders available.

Sir Peter Bottomley, who as Father of the House is the longest continuously serving MP, said he supported Rishi Sunak to be the next prime minister.

Mr Rees-Mogg’s market prediction was contrary to that of some economists, with the head of currency strategy at Rabobank, Jane Foley, telling the Financial Times Mr Johnson’s time in office had been characterised by ‘a lack of leadership from a government very distracted by one scandal after another’, and ‘the chance that that could come back is not going to be welcomed by markets’.

Analysts at Berenberg Bank said there were greater market risks from a Johnson government, with FT reporting the bank told its clients: ‘Given that a majority of Conservative MPs probably do not want Johnson as their leader, the prospects of mass resignations and a further descent into chaos would loom large.’

The trio of Mr Johnson, Mr Sunak and Ms Mordaunt look best-placed to hit the high threshold of 100 nominations from the 357 MPs needed to feature on the Tory leadership ballot. But it is possible only one or two will make the numbers by the Monday 2pm deadline. 

Speaking on BBC Breakfast on Saturday morning, Dominic Raab said that he expects Mr Sunak to announce he is running ‘shortly, soon’. 

He said the case for Mr Sunak as PM has ‘grown and strengthened’, adding that ‘he is best placed to restore confidence’ and trust. 

‘Rishi had the right plan in the summer and I think it is the right plan now,’ he said.

‘I think he is the best placed candidate to provide some stability, to provide confidence for the millions of workers and businesses up and down the country – but I also think he is the right candidate to bring the party together with a government of all of the talents to just relentlessly deliver for the British people whether it is on the cost of living, crime, schools or NHS.’

He added that while he would love to see Mr Johnson return to ‘front line politics’, he said that the former premier would not be suited for PM in this leadership race. 

Mr Raab told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: ‘We cannot go backwards. We can’t have another episode of the Groundhog Day, of the soap opera, of Partygate. We must get the country and the government moving forward.’ 

In an acknowledgment that she has ground to make up on the top two, Ms Mordaunt became the first to declare formally this evening – saying Conservatives had been telling her they want a ‘fresh’ start. 

The latest tallies suggest Mr Sunak has 72 backers, while Mr Johnson is on 38 and Ms Mordaunt on 18. The former chancellor unveiled Sajid Javid, George Eustice, Chris Philp, Gavin Williamson and Liam Fox as his latest additions this afternoon.

Although Mr Johnson is still returning from the Dominican Republic, he has told allies he is definitely running. 

Interest costs on the £2.4trillion debt mountain hit a September record, as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt scrambles to put together £40billion of spending cuts for a Halloween Budget. 

Friends of Mr Johnson told MailOnline that Mr Hunt staying as Chancellor was ‘coded in’ if he becomes PM again. ‘He’d be absolutely bonkers to change Hunt,’ one said. ‘He has gone down well. Any change, even if it was to somebody more competent would just generate confusion.’  

A senior Tory source said: ‘It is something that has got to be tried. The party as it stands is fractured – it is incumbent on the two greatest talents in the party to see if it can be healed.’ They added: ‘The question the Conservative Party needs to ask itself is whether it wants to win another general election. If it does, then it needs to come together now.’

A source close to bookies’ favourite Mr Sunak last night played down the prospect of peace talks, saying that although he was ‘willing to talk to all colleagues’, there were ‘no plans’ for a meeting with Mr Johnson. But another senior Tory said there were signs that both camps were eager to heal the rift that otherwise threatens to undermine whoever succeeds Miss Truss. ‘On balance, I think it [a meeting] will happen,’ the source said. 

It came as Sky News photographed the ex-PM and wife Carrie Johnson on an overnight British Airways flight back from the Dominican Republic with their children and said the MP received ‘one or two boos’ as he boarded. 

Influential Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, who was a key Sunak backer in the last leadership race, said he now wanted to see Mr Johnson as PM with Mr Sunak alongside him again as chancellor.

Both men enjoyed a surge in support yesterday that threatened to make it impossible for rival candidates to get enough nominations to get on the ballot paper.

In a significant intervention, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he was setting aside his own leadership chances – and suggested he would back Mr Johnson. He said it was important to think about ‘who could win the next election’ for the Conservatives.

Mr Johnson also received endorsements from five other Cabinet ministers, including Jacob Rees-Mogg, Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke and Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan.

Writing in the Daily Mail today, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris describes Mr Johnson as the party’s ‘standout star’ who is best placed to ‘finish the job he started’.

Last night, Mr Johnson had the declared support of 43 MPs, although sources are confident he will get well over the 100 nominations needed to make the ballot paper on Monday.

Mr Sunak was out in front with backing from 83 MPs, including former chancellor Sajid Javid, who said it was ‘abundantly clear’ that he had the ‘values our party needs’ to ‘move on from the mistakes of the past’.

Mr Johnson is due to arrive back in the UK today following a holiday in the Caribbean. Although he has not formally confirmed his candidacy, former minister Sir James Duddridge revealed he had told him he was ‘up for it’.

Sir James said: ‘I’ve been in contact with the boss via WhatsApp. He’s going to fly back. He said, ‘I’m flying back, Dudders, we are going to do this. I’m up for it’.’

Allies of Mr Johnson suggested he would be willing to meet Mr Sunak as soon as this afternoon if the former chancellor agrees. The two men have not spoken since Mr Sunak quit the Cabinet in July, triggering Mr Johnson’s exit a few days later. The ‘backstabber’ narrative dogged Mr Sunak throughout the summer leadership campaign and is seen as one of the main reasons Tory members rejected him in favour of Miss Truss.

MPs on both sides of the Tory divide fear that neither man will be able to heal the deep divisions without the support of the other. Peterborough MP Paul Bristow said it was time to ‘put the band back together’.

He told the BBC: ‘Boris Johnson has a mandate from the members of the party and from the electorate. I’m sure my colleagues will reflect on that when they vote, and we can avoid a general election, we can go out and put this band back together, we can have political heavyweights around that Cabinet table and we can go on and win the next general election. I’m convinced of that.’

It remains unclear how any deal between the two leading contenders could work. Mr Sunak quit as chancellor in part because of differences over economic policy and it is difficult to see how he could take the role again.

Allies of Mr Johnson dismissed the suggestion he would consider a senior role such as home secretary in a Sunak administration.

Miss Truss’s abrupt resignation on Wednesday has triggered a breakneck race to succeed her.

Candidate need 100 nominations from Tory MPs by 2pm on Monday to make the ballot paper.

Tory MPs will vote that night to whittle down the field to two if necessary. If two candidates remain, Conservative Party members will be asked to decide the contest in an online vote, with the result revealed on Friday.

Miss Truss will stay in post as caretaker leader in the meantime, and could take part in a final session of Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.