Boris Johnson has been accused of “not having the guts to face the people” in the Conservative leadership race, coming under fire for dodging interviews and refusing to confirm his participation in a BBC debate with other candidates.
Johnson, the clear frontrunner with MPs and the Tory membership, was implicitly criticised by several of his rivals who said the race must put all the candidates under proper scrutiny.
The former foreign secretary is expected to launch his campaign on Wednesday, when he will face some media questioning. However, he has refused to say whether he will appear on a televised hustings next Tuesday and has avoided broadcast interviews.
All 10 candidates have been invited to the BBC debate, with Michael Gove, Sajid Javid, Rory Stewart, Dominic Raab, Andrea Leadsom and Mark Harper having all confirmed to the Guardian that they would take part.
If Johnson takes questions at his campaign launch, he is likely to be asked about his admission of having taken cocaine at university, after the controversy over Gove’s use of class-A drugs.
Johnson has done just one newspaper interview, with the Sunday Times, and no major broadcast interviews since the campaign began, and has only made paid corporate appearances in Manchester and Switzerland. His main policy announcements have been made through his Daily Telegraph columns, for which he is also paid.
Several of the other candidates appeared to criticise Johnson for apparently trying to get through the next few weeks of voting among MPs without too much scrutiny of his policies and views.
Harper, one of the outsiders, said all candidates must be open to public questioning and scrutiny, and that any other route would risk a similar situation to the 2017 general election, when Theresa May’s campaign style stumbled.
“If you want to lead this country, you have to be prepared to set out your stall,” he said. “I think you have to open yourself up to questioning and be prepared to level with people and be questioned about it. We had a general election campaign two years ago and the prime minister demonstrated she was not as good at campaigning as we all thought she would be.”
Hancock added: “I certainly think that everybody who puts their name forward to be prime minister should be open to scrutiny, should be accountable.
“Everybody should participate in the proposed TV debates. And I think we’ve got to ask the question: why not? I’ve got nothing to hide and that’s why I am here.”
David Lammy, a Labour MP who supports the People’s Vote campaign for a second referendum, criticised Johnson for wanting to “force a destructive no deal on our country, when he doesn’t have the guts to face the people”.
“His reluctance to appear in public or to answer questions about his dangerous Brexit proposals suggests he wants to win this contest by speaking only to the membership of the Conservative party rather than the other 65 million people of the United Kingdom who will have to live [with] the consequences,” Lammy said.
“Saying nothing, other than through a lucrative column in the Telegraph, is no way for a potential prime minister to conduct themselves. The country is crying out for leadership, not cowardice.”
Johnson’s strategy does not appear to have harmed his chances with MPs. He won several more high-profile backers on Tuesday, with the former contender Kit Malthouse and former leader Iain Duncan Smith both supporting him. He now has at least 65 MPs behind him, making it very likely he will make the shortlist of two candidates to be put to a vote of the membership.
The controversy came as Leadsom launched her campaign, insisting that parliament would be unable to block a no-deal Brexit and that the 31 October deadline was a “hard red line” for her.
Leadsom, who resigned as the leader of the Commons last month, claimed her plans for a “managed Brexit” would be likely to win over both MPs and the EU27 – but even if MPs objected, they would not be able to force the government to extend article 50.
While MPs forced May’s hand in March to ask for an extension, Leadsom said: “I do not think that parliament actually has the ability to prevent us leaving at the end of October.”
In contrast, Hancock refused to rule out extending Britain’s membership of the EU beyond October, but insisted he could secure a time limit to the backstop from the EU that would pass parliament.
The health secretary said his rival candidates who had pledged to leave – deal or no deal – by 31 October were making false promises because parliament would block any no-deal departure.
He said the outcome would be a general election, which would be a “catastrophe for my party and extremely damaging for the country”.
Hancock claimed his plan for renegotiation was detailed, “unlike some of the other candidates”, and would involve first putting a deal to parliament that included a backstop with a time limit, to prove to the EU27 that it could pass. He would then restart the negotiations.
The backstop is a device intended to ensure there will not be a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, even if no formal deal can be reached on trade and security arrangements.
Michael Gove
The environment secretary is to pitch himself as a “unity candidate” capable of attracting leavers and remainers, as he formally declared his candidacy saying: “I believe that I’m ready to unite the Conservative and Unionist party, ready to deliver Brexit and ready to lead this great country.” But robust Brexiters in particular dislike the fact that he stayed loyal even in the final days of the crumbling May regime.
He received 37 votes in the first round, coming third.
Jeremy Hunt
Fears that the foreign secretary would be another overly woolly compromise choice were hardly assuaged when after a set-piece speech he seemed unable to outline why his brand of Conservatism might appeal to voters. Hunt has been backed by Liam Fox.
He received 43 votes in the first round, placing him second.
Sajid Javid
The home secretary still has the same weaknesses: he is an uninspiring speaker and some worry he is too fond of headline-grabbing, illiberal political gestures. But he is almost as ubiquitous as Liz Truss, and clearly believes this is his time.
He received 23 votes in the first round.
Boris Johnson
The out-and-out favourite, so popular with the Tory grassroots that it would be hard for MPs to not make Johnson one of the final two. He has been relatively quiet recently, beyond his regular Telegraph column, but this is very deliberate.
Johnson won the first round with 114 votes.
Dominic Raab
The former work and pensions secretary, who quit last year over May’s Brexit plans, has launched her own in-party campaign group/leadership vehicle called Blue Collar Conservatism, promising to make the party more amenable to voters in deprived communities – mainly through a promise to deliver a strong Brexit and policies such as diverting much of the foreign aid budget to schools and police.
Raab got 27 votes in the first round.
Rory Stewart
Few things say “would-be leader in waiting” like a kitchen photoshoot with your spouse, and the former Brexit secretary duly obliged with this imageawash with tasteful pastel hues. He formally launched his bid in the Mail on Sunday. Among the more core constituency of Conservative MPs, Raab has been pushing hard, as has his semi-official “Ready for Raab” Twitter feed.
Stewart got 19 votes in the first round.
Hancock told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme his plan had the support of David Lidington, the de facto deputy prime minister, and that Brussels was open to the change.
“It is eminently deliverable by 31 October. Once you have a majority in the House of Commons things can move quickly,” he said.
All the leadership candidates will take part in private hustings before the vote, with the first round taking place on Tuesday night.
Defending Johnson, the former defence secretary Michael Fallon said he hoped the contest would not focus on personalities.
“There’s a wide range of candidates but I hope we can agree to leave some of the personal stuff out of this … in the end we have all got to rally round, support the new prime minister, bring the party together again.”
