Who will replace Liz Truss? Boris Johnson to ‘stage a comeback’ as Truss resigns, with Rishi Sunak ‘certain’ to compete

After the sudden downfall of Liz Truss rumours are fast-spreading of former PM Boris Johnson, who only left office about seven weeks ago, making a comeback - but could this really happen?

Only seven weeks ago Boris Johnson delivered his resignation speech outside Downing Street as he stepped down as Prime Minister. Now, following a premiership that was plagued by chaos and intense media scrutiny from the beginning, Liz Truss stood at that very same spot and announced that she would be stepping down on Thursday.

This makes her the shortest-serving PM in British history, she said: “I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.”

Curiously, in Johnson’s parting speech he referenced the Roman figure Cincinnatus, a statesman who left Rome to pursue a simple life only to return and emerge as a leader during Rome’s time of crisis. Is this mere coincidence or indicative of Johnson’s intention to always return?

Speculation is rising that Boris Johnson is planning a comeback as Prime Minister of the UK following Liz Truss' abrupt resignation.

Could Boris Johnson return as PM?

When Boris Johnson announced that he would be leaving Number 10 only a matter of weeks ago he told the nation that “them’s the breaks” - an expression denoting frustration but acceptance, however that could all change now.

Reports state that he is planning to run again for Prime Minister after Liz Truss’ untimely resignation, and there is already evidence to suggest he has support from other Conservative MPs and party donors. According to a source from the Guardian, Boris Johnson expressed that it was a matter of “national interest” for him to return and that he felt his premiership was “cut off before its time.”

Are Conservatives backing Boris Johnson for the premiership?

Outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson makes a speech outside 10 Downing Street, London, before leaving for Balmoral for an audience with Queen Elizabeth II to formally resign as Prime Minister.

According to a report by The Times it has been said that despite Boris Johnson facing an inquiry into whether or not he misled Parliament over the Partygate scandal, the 58-year-old still appears to have retained some support among his Tory peers.

Johnson - who acted as the PM for just over three years - topped a poll among Tory party members only a few days ago which asked who would be the most likely to take the premiership if Liz Truss resigned within the next few weeks. He scored 32% in the YouGov survey of 530 Conservative party members ran on October 17 and 18.

However, a former minister who is backing former chancellor Rishi Sunak said he considered it highly unlikely that Johnson would run at all.

He said: “The brutal truth for Boris is that his support has not shifted at all since he was ousted.

"Then he had roughly 40 MPs still backing him, maybe 20 more are soft votes. I cannot see him getting more than 60 votes so … he’s done.”

Who is expected to run for Prime Minister?

When Liz Truss addressed Britain last month she said that we could “ride out the storm” during her first speech as Prime Minister. However, now that she has announced her resignation, here are the runners that could replace her:

Boris Johnson

Rishi Sunak

Suella Braverman

Penny Mordaunt

Ben Wallace

For the other ‘favourites’ to become the next Prime Minister check out The Scotsman’s full list on our website.

When is the next General Election?

During her brief resignation speech at Downing Street on Thursday, Liz Truss confirmed that she would remain as Prime Minister until her successor was chosen. She was in agreement with the 1922 committee chair, Sir Graham Brady, that it was essential for “a leadership election to be completed in the next week.”

After speaking with Tory Party chair, Jake Berry, Sir Graham said that Berry had “confirmed that it will be possible to conduct a ballot and conclude a leadership election by Friday the 28th of October so we should have a new leader in place before the fiscal statement which will take place on the 31st”.