Boris Johnson would “relish” a role in the Conservative General Election campaign, close ally Conor Burns has said.
He told Camilla Tominey on GB News: “Anyone who's ever been out on a walkabout or in fact just walking between meetings with Boris Johnson sees he's a superstar and we need that.
“He said it himself, the mandate of 2019 in very many ways was a very personal mandate, he still feels very strongly about levelling up, he feels very strongly about making sure we take the full benefits of Brexit.
“He was not exactly complimentary in many of the despatch box exchanges to Sir Softie, Captain Hindsight, whatever the various things he called him.
“I think he would relish the opportunity to play a part in making sure Keir Starmer doesn't get to Number 10.”
He added: “You never know from one day to the next what view Boris will take but my hope, as someone whose name will be on a ballot paper in the autumn, is that we have all our stars, including Boris, on the pitch.”
Asked if a comeback was likely, the former Northern Ireland Minister said: “Boris is doing amazing work on Ukraine currently, which is extremely important, beyond the in and outflows of day to day politics.
“What's going on Ukraine, if we let Ukraine down and Putin wins, the risk to us in the years decades ahead is immense. Boris is rallying support.
“I nearly saw him a couple of weeks ago in New York where he was rallying the American Republicans on this trying to get them to see the strategic importance of this. I hope a role will be found for Boris in that election campaign.”
On whether he still blames Rishi Sunak for his demise, Burns said: “A lot of people now look back on that period and realise that people were out to get Boris from day one.
“A lot of people never forgave Boris for the fact that leave won the referendum…and they were determined to get him.
“They got him, but he is still out there, a big beast in the Tory Party and I want to see all our players on the field.”
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