Cabinet minister mocks Boris Johnson over 'bog off' incident with students
2 min read
A Cabinet minister today took a swipe at Boris Johnson - mocking the Foreign Secretary for a past incident when students told him to "bog off".
In an embarrassing jibe, Scotland Secretary David Mundell made the comments in response to a question about how his colleague might appeal to young Scottish voters.
Meanwhile, another Cabinet minister warned Mr Johnson that his parliamentary colleagues might not appreciate his apparent pitch for the leadership and said backbenchers would be "horrified" at the prospect of a contest.
The Foreign Secretary has repeatedly challenged Theresa May's authority in recent weeks, fuelling speculation he is angling to replace her as Prime Minister.
He has made unhelpful interventions on Brexit and even strayed into demands over the minimum wage and public sector pay - topics far from his brief.
At a fringe event during the Conservative conference in Manchester today, Mr Mundell said he would not answer "hypothetical questions" about his colleague's appeal to the young.
But he added: "I do recall that Boris Johnson once stood as rector of Edinburgh university. You can look at the results of that."
The race - held in 2006 - saw the then-higher education secretary come a distant third behind Green MSP Mark Ballard and journalist Magnus Linklater.
On a visit to the university he was sprayed with beer and faced chants of “Bog off Boris, you top-up Tory”.
Asked on the BBC Andrew Marr show today if Mr Johnson was "unsackable", Mrs May laughed and insisted her cabinet was “united in its mission”.
'NO APPETITE FOR LEADERSHIP RACE'
But an unnamed Cabinet minister today insisted Mr Johnson could face the sack and warned against his apparent leadership tactics appealing to Brexit voters.
“People who aspire to lead the conservatives always forget who the audience is. It’s not the membership, it’s their colleagues in Parliament," the minister said.
“There is absolutely no appetite for a leadership election now. If you said to backbenchers 'let’s have a leadership election in the autumn' they would be horrified.”
Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson was also asked about Mr Johnson today but refused to discuss what she called "Tory psychodrama".
A report in the Sunday Times today said Mr Johnson believes Mrs May will be gone within a year and is planning one last shot at becoming Tory leader.
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