Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Lindsay Watling: The week that saw treachery reach new levels

Former London Mayor Boris Johnson (Jack Taylor/Getty Images)
Former London Mayor Boris Johnson (Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

AT 11.53am on Thursday – just seven minutes before the deadline for nominations in the Tory leadership contest – a clearly emotional Boris Johnson ruled himself out of the race.

This was not how it was supposed to go.

Rewind a week and the former London mayor was riding high in the aftermath of the nation’s historic vote for Brexit.

His solemn victory speech fired the starting gun on his bid for Cameron’s job and within days he reportedly had the backing of more than 100 MPs.

Then – in one fell swoop – Caesar found himself out-manoeuvred.

Just hours before Boris was due to formally launch his candidacy, his Vote Leave pal, Michael Gove, revealed that instead of managing the campaign, he would be standing himself.

It was a move that will go down in Westminster-lore as one of the greatest acts of treachery that ever was. Everyone knows politics is a brutal world but this raised the bar, prompting one Tory MP to declare there is a “very deep pit reserved in hell for such as he”.

To steal Boris’ father Stanley Johnson’s line: “Et tu, Brute?”

The justice secretary – who had repeatedly said he did not want the job and indeed even claimed he was ill-equipped for it – disagreed.

He insisted he had come to the decision at the 11th hour, having ultimately concluded that Boris could not provide the leadership nor build the team required.

“I never thought I would be in this position”. “I did not want it”. “I did almost everything I could not to be a candidate”. His excuses came thick and fast.

But almost everything – Mrs Gove’s “leaked” email the day before, urging he secure guarantees from Boris before backing him – suggested a more Machiavellian strategy.

Conspiracy theories were quick to emerge. Was Gove carrying out the dirty work of Cameron and George Osborne in a desperate attempt to stop Boris?

Had Gove done a deal with Theresa May, now the favourite in the five-horse race? Had Boris and May come to a mutually beneficial agreement?

Either way, the Home Secretary, who nominally campaigned for Remain, is the biggest beneficiary of the Boris assassination.

She is likely to secure the support of Tory MPs who feel they cannot trust Gove, although for many Brexiteers anointing a pro-Brexit PM is the ultimate goal above else.

In this new normal, it would be foolish to write off the other runners, particularly the unknown Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb, who could resonate with members.

Meanwhile, across the House, Labour struggled to find anyone willing to challenge Jeremy Corbyn.

The supposed Opposition appeared as incompetent this week as the Tories did ruthless.

Amid waves of Shadow Cabinet resignations and an overwhelming vote of no confidence, the Islington MP became increasingly isolated, but dug in his heels regardless.

The potential for long-term damage to the party is obvious and yet no one seemed up for taking on the veteran left-winger, with Angela Eagle expected to come forward only reluctantly.

Perhaps they fear a second Corbyn victory, cementing his place at the top.

Under those circumstances a party split would be inevitable.

The SNP group was quick to try to capitalise on Labour’s woes, making a bid to replace it as the official opposition in the UK Parliament.

Of course, it was rejected immediately.

But in the current climate, it is difficult to disagree that Labour is no longer fit to hold the Government to account.


READ MORE

VIDEO: Everything you need to know about the Conservative leadership race

Boris Johnson announces he will not be standing for election as Conservatives leader