Back anyone, but Sunak: Boris Johnson to allies

As the race to become Britains next prime minister gained pace caretaker premier Boris Johnson has reportedly told his allies to back anyone but Rishi Sunak according to a media report on FridayJohnson who resigned as the leader of the ruling Conservative Party on July 7 has been urging defeated Tory leadership candidates not to back former chancellor Sunak who is widely blamed for Johnsons loss of support among his own party members The Times newspaper reportedJohnson who has said he will not endorse any leadership candidates or publicly intervene in the contest is believed to have held conversations with failed contenders to succeed him and urged that Sunak should not become the prime ministerA source close to one of the conversations said the current prime minister appeared most keen on Liz Truss the foreign secretary endorsed by his fiercest cabinet allies Jacob ReesMogg and Nadine DorriesAlso Read In photos Facts about Indianorigin Rishi Sunak who could replace Boris JohnsonJohnson is also reportedly open to Penny Mordaunt the junior trade minister succeeding him instead of SunakAccording to the report caretaker Prime Minister Johnson and his camp are running an anyone but Rishi hidden campaign after feeling betrayed over the former Chancellors resignation which precipitated his exit from 10 Downing StreetThe whole No10 Downing Street team hates Rishi Its personal Its vitriolic They dont blame Saj Sajid Javid for bringing him down They blame Rishi They think he was planning this for months the newspaper quoted a source as sayingSunak who was the winner of the first two rounds of voting by Tory members of Parliament will appear for a series of televised debates over the weekend with his remaining opponents Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt Foreign Secretary Liz Truss former minister Kemi Badenoch and Tory backbencher Tom TugendhatAn ally of Johnson rejected the claim that he wants anyone but Rishi to win but admitted that the outgoing prime minister harboured resentment over Sunaks betrayalSunaks camp has meanwhile played down suggestions that his strong support does not extend beyond the Tory MPsI think he really will start to connect and hopefully we can move away and offer a positive vision rather than this ConservativeonConservative attacks which I really dont like said Richard Holden a Tory backbench MP backing SunakThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever