Mr Johnson’s allies are gearing up for a general election in late 2019 if he wins the Tory leadership contest. Tories close to the former Foreign Secretary declared an early vote is not his favourite option, but something that may need to happen to end the Brexit chaos. They said the country may be forced to cast an early ballot if Parliament refuses to accept a no deal Brexit. One key figure told The Times: “You will need to get the party in fighting shape as early as possible. 

“One of the reasons for the lack of success in 2017 was a lack of preparation.

“You need to pull things together.”

Mr Johnson’s biggest concerns regarding an early election are likely to be candidate selection and fundraising, especially after donors deserted the party because of Theresa May’s handling of Brexit.  

One way to win wealthy donors back may be to strike an alliance with Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, The Times wrote, explaining many have reportedly urged him to consider a pact with the movement which took the European elections by storm.

A YouGov poll shows Tory members would be happy to see Mr Farage either in the Cabinet or not openly against the Conservative Party.

The survey, carried out for The Times between June 19 and 21 of 908 Tory members, saw 65 percent of the activists willing to back a pact between Conservatives and Mr Farage.

This would involve Tories and Brexit Party candidates agreeing not to run against each other in constituencies where a split vote could lead to a Labour win. 

And as many as 46 percent of Tory members said they would be happy to see Mr Farage lead their party.

However, Mr Johnson doesn’t seem open to a deal with the Brexit Party at the moment, according to one of his closest ally.

James Cleverly, a Brexiteer appointed Under Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union in April, declared that, if Mr Johnson won the leadership race, he would not want or need an alliance with Mr Farage.

This comes after Mr Johnson triumphed in the fifth round of voting on Thursday, obtaining the support of 160 MPs of 313 – more than 50 percent of the Tories sitting in the Commons. 

The next phase is seeing Mr Johnson and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who has gathered 77 votes, taking part in hustings across the country ahead of a vote held by the 160,000 Tory members in the UK.

The YouGov poll, carried out before police were called to the flat shared by PM hopeful with his girlfriend Carrie Symonds after a neighbour became concerned about an argument, sees Mr Johnson being supported by 74 percent of Tory members.

Of those polled, only 19 percent said they may change their mind in the next few weeks, while 80 percent were confident with their choice.

The next Conservative Party leader will be crowned at the end of July.   

Source: Read Full Article