A blood-curdling vow to fight to the death, despair among Tory stalwarts at the impending loss of their champion and disbelief that Boris Johnson is still hanging on are all part of the mix as UK newspapers feast on another high-profile day drama at Westminster.
In what it calls an “exclusive” on “Rebellious Boris’ message to Tory rebels”, the Sun splashes the headline “You’ll have to get your hands in blood to get rid of me”. A ‘key ally’ of the Prime Minister repeats line #10 of the briefing that the rebels will have to override the ‘will of the people’ if they want to topple Johnson.
On tomorrow’s front page: Boris Johnson has sent a defiant message to Tory rebels – vowing to fight back after a staggering 42 MPs quit his government pic.twitter.com/YORbm6X3KZ
— The Sun (@TheSun) July 6, 2022
Johnson’s alleged fight is also the subject of the Daily Mail’s front page, with the headline ‘Boris stares down rebellion’ and teasing inside coverage of ‘venom’ and ‘conspiracies’.
His columnist Stephen Glover bemoaned the imminent fall of the one-time hero of the Tory party.
“The truth is, it’s over,” he wrote. “Boris Johnson must go now – for his own good, for the good of his party and for the good of the country. This may be a cruel way to treat a man who has done good things, but who said politics is fair?
The Mail is joined in the Downing Street bunker by the Express, which has a front-page headline: “Prime Minister’s final stand: back me or face political oblivion”.
The world outside the bunker is colder, however, with the Telegraph sounding resigned to the fact that Johnson will have to go. “Fartally wounded prime minister defies cabinet demands to quit,” read the headline.
Also on the front page, Camilla Tomini laments Johnson’s betrayal of his party’s values and his failure to follow Thatcher’s guiding star.
“Much of the criticism leveled at Mr Johnson in recent months has been as much about his lack of performance as his lack of judgement. Not only was his character and competence called into question, but so was his conservatism.”
“Johnson is fighting for his life,” read the Times front page, with the same Telegraph photo showing the Prime Minister gritting his teeth and clenching his fists in the House of Commons.
Inside, Max Hastings welcomes the prospect of a more “serious” resident of Number 10.
“For three years, we have allowed ourselves to be ruled by people who are preoccupied exclusively with their personal interests, devoid of a reliable perspective for our society. Now we need a Prime Minister who will restore dignity and self-respect to the country and its governance.
“Desperate, deluded prime minister clings to power,” the Guardian blasted. It reports that while Johnson remains in office, much of the party has already begun considering who to replace him, with Sajid Javid the front-runner.
The Financial Times is aptly understated with its sensational headline ‘Johnson rocked by cabinet mutiny’.
The Metro used one of Johnson’s favorite lines against him in its front-page headline: “Boris, get out.”
“Cabinet coup” says i, which is lining up a rogues’ gallery of cabinet ministers who, in an echo of the fall of Margaret Thatcher, went to see Johnson on Wednesday to tell him it was time to go.
The Daily Record, however, provides a clean summary with the headline “Endless Tories”.
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