When Boris Johnson resigned as Britain’s prime minister last month, he stood outside 10 Downing Street and reeled off a list of his achievements. That’s normal for departing British leaders, but in a highly unusual move, he also hinted at a possible return.
The prime minister did so in typical fashion for a man who loves the classics, referencing the Roman statesman Cincinnatus, who left power only to be called back to office when his people were in trouble.
In the wake of Liz Truss’s resignation as prime minister on Thursday, and with the Conservative Party in electoral trouble, the question has become more concrete: Far sooner than anybody had expected, could Mr. Johnson be back? The Times of London’s political editor, Steven Swinford, reported on Thursday that Mr. Johnson was expected to seek the leadership of the Conservatives again, a prospect that was welcomed by his supporters. Nadine Dorries, a government minister in Mr. Johnson’s administration and one of his most loyal supporters, said that if the party did not pave the way for his return, it should call a general election.
“One person was elected by the British public with a manifesto and a mandate until January ’25,” she said on Twitter. “If Liz Truss is no longer PM there can be no coronation of previously failed candidates.” Members of Parliament, she said, “must demand return of” Mr. Johnson.
Mr. Johnson won a hefty majority in 2019, giving his government a mandate from voters more direct than that enjoyed by Ms. Truss, or by any other leader the party could choose as her successor. At the same time, voters returned the party to power to implement a manifesto he led. Some of Ms. Truss’s opponents in Parliament said she had started to pursue policies that departed from that election manifesto.
But there is a problem: Mr. Johnson’s tenure was punctuated by a series of scandals, including a fine he received for attending a coronavirus lockdown party in Downing Street that broke Covid laws that his own government had implemented.
The party lost successive by-elections in Mr. Johnson’s final months in power and, in his final week, scores of government ministers resigned, citing failures of his leadership. Given that conservative lawmakers are the ones who will decide on their next leader, most commentators say that their appetite to give the keys to Downing Street back to Mr. Johnson is likely to be limited.
As a result, other candidates such as Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, both of whom scored highly with conservative members of Parliament, are viewed as more likely successors. Bookmakers now rate Mr. Johnson’s chances of returning to office at around 5 percent.
For all his vaunted electoral appeal, many voters see Mr. Johnson as a divisive figure. In addition, he is being investigated by a powerful parliamentary committee over whether he misled lawmakers about lockdown parties. There is also uncertainty about whether his return to power would be welcomed by financial markets that have stabilized recently.
And Mr. Johnson is also in a position to follow in the footsteps of other former prime ministers and earn huge sums as an author and speaker, just as the lecture circuit booms back to life.
Even so, some of his supporters on Twitter have begun calling for his return under the hashtag #BringBackBoris.
Political comebacks are rare in British politics, but not unheard-of. In the postwar period, Winston Churchill, whom Mr. Johnson has published a book about, staged a return as prime minister, as did Harold Wilson in the 1970s.
The British news media reported this week that Mr. Johnson was on vacation in the Caribbean. But in his final speech to Parliament as the leader, he used one phrase about his future that was easier to understand: “Hasta la vista, baby,” he said. “Mission largely accomplished — for now.”
Stephen Castle contributed reporting.
