James Forsyth James Forsyth

The next Tory leadership battle is Boris Johnson vs Theresa May – and it’s already started

The Mayor of London and the Home Secretary are squaring up for the next Tory leadership battle

issue 03 August 2013

Parliament is out for the summer. David Cameron is on the European leg of his holidays. But Boris Johnson is still beavering away, using the summer months to seek advice from his eclectic group of confidants as to how he can make it to No. 10. Make no mistake: his ambition burns brighter than ever. He wants the top job, and he’s determined to get it.

But Boris’s political calculations have been radically altered by his realisation that the main obstacle to him becoming Prime Minister is not David Cameron but the Home Secretary, Theresa May.

The Mayor and May are, on the face of it, opposites. She is the epitome of caution, he throws it to the wind. He yearns to be loved, she wants to be respected. He revels in the show business of politics, she disdains it. But they are both fiercely ambitious and hard-working. It is no coincidence that while others are off sunning themselves, these two are busy making headlines.

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