Don’t bring Boris Johnson back if you want to win the next election, Tories warned in new poll

Increasing numbers of voters think Tories were right to force ex-PM out of No 10, survey finds

The Conservative Party’s prospects at the next general election would be considerably more dire were Boris Johnson to return to the helm, new polling suggests.

Dealing a further blow to allies still plotting his comeback, Redfield & Wilton Strategies found that just 19 per cent of voters would be more willing to vote for the Tories if the ex-prime minister was to return – versus 44 per cent who would be less likely.

Even in spite of the turmoil which marked his successor Liz Truss’s shortlived premiership, those who believed Tory MPs were right to bring his government crashing down last July still outnumbered voters who viewed his exit from Downing Street as a mistake.