Stop Boris? These days it’s Operation Stop Raab

For a long time now, there’s been a Stop Boris campaign in operation in Westminster. With the Parliamentary party a lot less keen on the former foreign secretary than the eurosceptic membership, MPs have plotted ways to keep Johnson off the final two in a Tory leadership contest. MPs vote to knock out contenders in Parliamentary rounds before the Tory grassroots select their leader from the two left standing. The way the contest works means that there is ample opportunity for MPs to work together to knock out candidates they don’t like.

However, a number of Tory MPs have a new target in their sights. In the past couple of weeks, there has been a sea change in how Tory moderates view Johnson. That’s not because of anything in particular he has done, but because of how they view his main Brexiteer competition: Dominic Raab. As I say in the i paper this week, faced with a choice between Johnson and Raab, a number of Remain-leaning Tories are concluding that BoJo is the least worst option.