Heidi Allen, an ex-Conservative who joined Change UK in protest against Theresa May’s handling of Brexit, predicted a walkout of Tory MPs if the current Prime Minister is replaced by a Brexiteer such as Mr Johnson. The head of Change UK, formerly known as The Independent Group, told The Financial Times: “If the party actively chooses someone like Boris Johnson, or whoever it might be, then that will tell them, I think, that the game really is over. I think that would potentially be the end of the road for a number of Tory MPs.”
Mr Johnson is considered by bookies the favourite MP to replace Mrs May at No10.
Although the official leadership contest hasn’t started yet, Mr Johnson has a new office big enough to accommodate a campaign team, according to The Independent.
But the leadership campaign may start earlier than expected, with MPs calling for Mrs May to quit after she was granted a six-month extension to Article 50 and backbenchers ready to change the rules surrounding leadership challenges to allow a contest every six month.
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“If we fight the European elections there is only one person that is responsible – her.”
Ms Allen, MP for South Cambridgeshire, was one of the three Tory MPs who defected their party on February 20 claiming Mrs May had allowed a “hard-line anti-EU awkward squad” to take over the party.
They joined The Independent Group, founded by 11 Tory and Labour MPs who left in protest with the Brexit line of their parties, which has been renamed Change UK after receiving the status of a political party.
Ms Allen’s party rejected the call from Sir Vince Cable, leader of the Lib Dem and supporter of a second referendum, to agree a joint slate of candidates for the European Parliament elections with his party and the Greens.
When asked whether this decision could harm Change UK, Ms Allen said she had studied the workings of the proportional voting system that will be used on May 23, adding: “I don’t think there’s a risk of that.
“We will poll differently in different parts of the country but I think we stand every chance of doing very, very well in certain regions.”
