Churchill, Gladstone, Johnson? The prime ministers who returned after leaving Downing Street

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Boris Johnson is planning an unlikely comeback after Liz Truss resigns and is polling Tory MPs for their support, according to reports.

If he returned as Prime Minister, he would be following in the footsteps of his hero Winston Churchill, who returned to No 10 in 1951 after a spell in opposition following his election defeat in 1945.

Mr. Johnson and Rishi Sunak are currently leading the polls as favorites to replace Ms Truss, who stepped down after just 44 days in Downing Street.

Mr. Johnson is returning from his vacation in the Caribbean so he can muster the support he needs to reach the 100 MP threshold to join the leadership race.

His former press secretary, Will Walden, suggested on Friday morning that Mr Johnson was not considering a return to No 10 because it was in the national interest but rather because it was in "Boris' interest".

"The thing about Boris is that he hates losing, and I suspect that if he doesn't think he can reach 100 [MP votes needed to join the leadership race ], or more importantly he can come second in the first vote - because I think Rishi Sunak is the clear favorite - then he won't run," he told Sky News >.

Tim Montgomerie, founder of Conservative Home, told Radio 4 that some allies of Mr Johnson already thought there was enough support to push him past the 100 MP threshold. Not only do they think he can go over 140 MPs to back him as Prime Minister. some of the politicians who returned as Prime Minister:

Winston Churchill