BORIS Johnson yesterday offered Jeremy Hunt the job of Defence Secretary in his new Cabinet, The Sun can reveal.
But Mr Hunt turned the offer down because he saw it as a demotion.
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And he told the new PM he would accept nothing apart from his current job of Foreign Secretary.
The pair are now in a stand-off, with Mr Hunt defying Boris to sack him from the Cabinet altogether.
An insider told The Sun: “He told Boris it’s Foreign Secretary of nothing.”
Another source close to Mr Hunt said: “He won’t accept a demotion.”
They pointed to historical precedent – noting that David Cameron offered Davis the top job of Shadow Home Secretary after beating him in the 2005 leadership contest by a bigger margin than Boris beat Mr Hunt.
Boris’s decision to offer Mr Hunt the role of Defence Secretary suggests the current incumbent of that brief – Penny Mordaunt – is set for a promotion.
Ms Mordaunt – a leading Brexiteer despite backing Mr Hunt in the leadership contest – is being tipped for Boris’s pick as Foreign Secretary.
In last week’s Sun debate Mr Johnson pledged to put at least one woman in the top four offices of state.
That means that one of Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary or Chancellor must be a woman.
Boris’s pick for Home Secretary is poised to be the leading Brexiteer and right-wing Tory Priti Patel, according to The Times.
The newspaper reported that the 47-year old is on the verge of being promoted to the third biggest job in Boris’s Cabinet, despite her being sacked as Aid Secretary by Theresa May in 2017 over failing to declare meetings with the Israeli government.
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