Boris Johnson hopes to return to power 'like Donald Trump', says Rory Stewart

Boris Johnson plans to copy Donald Trump by returning to power when the Tory party and the public turn on Liz Truss, says a former minister.

Rory Stewart also compared the outgoing Prime Minister to Silvio Berlusconi, who is plotting a return to Italy despite – like Mr Johnson - being knocked down by multiple scandals.

'I'm afraid he has an extraordinary ego and he thinks he's been mistreated,' the former international development secretary said of Mr Johnson.

"He fails to see the reality that he was a very bad Prime Minister and lost his job because of profound flaws in his character.

"Yes, I'm afraid we'll end isse with a second Berlusconi or a second try for Trump to come back again,” Mr Stewart told BBC Radio 4.

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Polls suggest that many Tory supporters who wanted Mr Johnson to quit at the height of Partygate and the Chris Pincher scandals now regret his departure next week.

Ms Truss is almost certain to be his successor - but will face an extraordinary cocktail of crises that may force her to abandon many of the campaign promises that would win her the prize.

Many Tories fear she will not be able to hold together the winning coalition in the Conservative 2019 election of the heart of the party in the south and the red wall wins in the north and the Midlands.

An Opinium survey found that as many as 63% of Tories already favor Mr Johnson over Ms Truss in a head-to-head pick. She was backed by just 22% of the vote.

This 'seller's remorse' threatens to be a big headache for the new leader - especially if Mr Johnson is rumored to shows up at the October party conference and receives a hero's welcome.

David Gauke, the former Tory justice secretary, also predicted a comeback attempt for Johnson if the clouds storms are gathering ahead of the 2024 general election.

"We know he viewed his impeachment as the consequence of MPs acting like a herd of needlessly panicked irrational wildebeests in a stampede" , he said.

"We know people around him were peddling fantasies about him being immediately reinstated in office by a written membership drive, and that he did little to deter them."

One hurdle is the Privileges Committee's investigation into whether Mr Johnson lied to Parliament about parties #10, but his allies are already trying to kill him.

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