Boris Johnson’s strong showing in the first round of voting in the Tory leadership race dominates the front pages of the papers today.
“Who can stop Boris now?” asks the Express, which says the former foreign secretary “has taken a massive lead” in the race to become the next prime minister and says he is “thundering toward Downing Street”.
In tomorrow's @Daily_Express
— Daily Express (@Daily_Express) June 13, 2019
- Boris Johnson storms ahead in PM race #ToryLeadershipElection
- Prince Charles and Camilla host masquerade ball #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/jUAq7mX9oq
The Daily Mail takes it even further, saying Johnson is not only thundering toward, but in fact has “One foot in Number 10”. The paper, which calls him “Bulldozer Boris”, says that Johnson’s 114 votes is more than his three closest rivals combined, “suggesting,” says the paper, “Mr Johnson’s bid to finally reach No 10 may be unstoppable”.
Friday's @DailyMailUK #MailFrontPages pic.twitter.com/EaTPpQHtKy
— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) June 13, 2019
The FT calls Johnson the “runaway favourite” for the job and highlights the fact that after Andrea Leadsom and Esther McVey were knocked out of the race, the field is all-male.
Friday’s FINANCIAL TIMES: “Johnson is runaway favourite to be next PM after first Tory ballot” #bbcpapers #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/8zBscZXPxQ
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) June 13, 2019
The Telegraph reports calls from Johnson’s supporters that contenders who only just passed the threshold of 17 votes – whom the paper calls “vanity candidates” – to pull out of the race. The paper speculates that Matthew Hancock’s 20 supporters might switch allegiance to Sajid Javid, and that some of Michael Gove’s supporters may switch allegiance to Johnson because Gove’s campaign “was in trouble after he came a distant third”.
The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph: 'Tory "vanity candidates" urged to quit' #tomorrowspaperstoday https://t.co/NEfmH9Hsnh pic.twitter.com/ovwXHQ84Py
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) June 13, 2019
The i says: “Johnson’s Tory enemies regroup after big win” but is less confident about the certainty of victory, saying “He faces challenge of overcoming curse of Tory favourite”.
Friday’s i - “Johnson’s Tory enemies regroup after big win” #bbcpapers #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/zsn7pOOrPb
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) June 13, 2019
Several papers focus on the fact that Johnson has not agreed to participate in debates against other Tory candidates. It is the lead in the Times, which accuses Johnson of “holding out” and “hiding”.
Friday’s TIMES: “Johnson is accused of hiding from TV debates” #bbcpapers #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/kDY8on7cMb
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) June 13, 2019
The Sun has pictures of some of Johnson’s opponents under a speech bubble saying: “We’ve all been screwed by Boris”. The paper predicted Johnson was “on the way to No10 last night after nailing his rivals in the race to replace Theresa May”.
Tomorrow's front page: 'Boris Johnson was on the way to No10 last night after nailing his rivals in the race to replace Theresa May' https://t.co/h5d8JC35E3 pic.twitter.com/75aIwqhXdx
— The Sun (@TheSun) June 13, 2019
The Guardian’s lead story is about the US blaming Iran for attacks in the Gulf, but has a story about the leadership contest, saying “candidates were in talks last night about joining forces to provide the strongest challenge to Boris Johnson, who looks all but certain to be Britain’s next prime minister after trouncing rivals in the first MPs’ ballot.”
Guardian front page Friday 14 June 2019: US blames Iran for attacks in key Gulf shipping route pic.twitter.com/RkYW1sQSKV
— The Guardian (@guardian) June 13, 2019
