The ex-PM’s allies blame his ousting on his rivals. In an exclusive extract from his new book, Ben Riley-Smith explains what really happened
‘F–k! F–k!’ Boris Johnson was seething. ‘He’s trying to f–k me!’
The Prime Minister had just been told that the second most important figure in his government had quit. Rishi Sunak was out – and without giving his boss any warning. No meeting was requested by the Chancellor to explain his reasons, as had been the case with Sajid Javid, the departing Health Secretary, earlier that day, 5 July 2022. There was no conversation over the phone; not even a text. It fell to the Number 10 political secretary to tell his boss a resignation letter was on the way. Johnson was raging. ‘Who the f–k does he think he is?’
Sunak had been a lowly local government minister when Boris reached the top as Conservative Party leader back in 2019. It was Johnson who had brought him into the Cabinet, first as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and then, aged just 39, as Chancellor. Now, three years on, he was going, swiping at Johnson’s ethics and economics as he went. ‘It was basically a knife in the front,’ said a Boris ally who was by his side that day.
The power dynamics between the pair had been shifting Number 11’s way for months. During the Covid pandemic, they had worked well together. It was over what came next – how to control spending and meet Tory demands for tax cuts – that tensions emerged. By the start of 2022, with the Prime Minister facing backbench revolt over the Partygate saga and Sunak topping potential-successor lists, things were deteriorating. Then came the blindsiding resignation.