By John Talliday-
Boris Johnson only wanted the prime minister’s job, not the Brexit outcome, according to Sir Alan Duncan In a BBC 2 documentary to air tonight, Duncan- a minister in Johnson’s office, told the BBC, that he campaigned to leave the EU to set himself up as the next Conservative leader.
Sir Alan said he believed the now foreign secretary wanted to lose narrowly and progress to become the “heir apparent” to David Cameron. This claim has been a circulating view among insiders in Westminster, once leading to a heated confrontation between Boris Johnson and Andrew Marr on the Andrew Marr show, during the build -up to the referendum.
The general view was that Johnson was a remain politician at heart, only changing his stance to gain a public profile that would land him in no 10. He nearly landed there, until the alleged grand plan was aborted by the challenge of Michael Gove, who himself failed to achieve the highly ambitious ministerial post.
In a behind-the-scenes documentary, Brexit: A Very British Coup?, Sir Alan – then a backbench MP but now a minister in Mr Johnson’s Foreign Office – predicted the result would be 52% for Remain and 48% for Leave.
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“I think there are a lot of Leave people who don’t believe it, and I’ve always thought that Boris’s wish was to lose by one so that he could be the heir apparent without having to have all the… you know… of clearing up all the mess, that’s always been my view of Boris.”
He added: “By championing leave, he can be the great heir apparent of the future, darling of the activists, but actually it would be quite good if he didn’t actually win the referendum because there would be total chaos.”
Johnson had previously been in support of the EU, sharing his views in his regular column with the Daily Mail. Somewhere along the line, he changed his position, leading many to speculate about his intentions. The foreign secretary did however appear genuine in his convictions, citing plausible reasons why a departure from the EU would best favour Britain, most of all, the erosion of the sovereignty of our courts by the European Parliament.
The fact Johnson is now Duncan’s boss, makes Duncan’s claim seem all the more credible, because it is a brave claim to make in a documentary for one working under the very politician he speaks about.
This does not make the claim definitely factual, though it sounds convincing enough to make minds contemplate the legitimacy of the claim deeply.
Shortly after the after the Brexit outcome, Sir Alan warned that the UK was entering “a period of deep instability and uncertainty” and “potentially ultra-dysfunctional government”
“And you know, the first thing we hear is Michael Gove says he is going to negotiate with David Cameron about being in charge of the negotiations. Well these people have got to remember they might have won a referendum, but they don’t run the country.”
Mr Johnson, always argued that leaving the EU would be Britain’s “independence day”.
He said the UK could “take back control” – of its money, its immigration system and its democracy and accused Remain campaigners of talking the country down.
After the referendum and David Cameron’s ensuing resignation Mr Johnson unexpectedly withdrew from the race to be the next Tory leader and PM, positions he is long thought to have harbored desires for.
He said he did not believe he could provide the leadership or unity needed, after then Justice Secretary and fellow Brexit campaigner Michael Gove made his own bid for the job.
But in a shock move just over a week later – with Mr Johnson’s fortunes seen to be at their lowest ebb – Mr Cameron’s successor, Theresa May, appointed him as foreign secretary in her new cabinet.