Gamble on Boris Johnson to make remarkable Downing Street return continues apace

Punters and parliamentarians alike continued to back Boris Johnson to make a remarkable return as Conservative Party leader and prime minister on Friday.

Johnson, who resigned as PM in July, was a 28-1 shot in the moments after Liz Truss announced she was calling time on her brief stint in Downing Street at lunchtime on Thursday. But Johnson was as short as 3-1 by the end of the day and he continued to attract support on Friday despite the fact that he is yet to formally declare that he will stand for the Tory leadership again.

Johnson is closing in on favourite Rishi Sunak in the betting, with former chancellor Sunak a best-priced 5-6 and Johnson as short as evens with Coral.

Cabinet ministers Jacob Rees-Mogg and Simon Clarke have both thrown their weight behind Johnson, while defence secretary Ben Wallace said he was “leaning towards” the former prime minister after ruling out a leadership bid of his own.

Its 9-1 bar the pair with Penny Mordaunt, the current leader of the House of Commons and first candidate to officially enter the leadership race, seen as the only serious challenger to Johnson or Sunak.

Any potential candidate needs the backing of at least 100 Tory MPs by 2pm on Monday.

If more than two candidates reach the 100-vote threshold, Tory MPs will vote on their preferred leader until only two candidates remain, whereon the wider Party membership will vote online to elect a new party leader. If only one candidate gains the support of 100 of their colleagues they will be immediately elected leader and PM.

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