In July last year Angela Rayner finally admitted that Boris was the “biggest threat” to Labour’s hopes at the last election. A week prior, Pippa Crerar admitted that Boris was the Tory leadership contender Labour would fear most:

Boris Johnson.

— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) July 11, 2022

Now more Labour MPs aren’t holding back on their greatest fear: a Boris comeback…

Paul Waugh’s latest piece in the i carries some interesting quotes from Labour MPs:

“there is a strong strand of thinking among some Labour MPs that also really fears a Johnson return. They have picked up the same doorstep feedback as Tory colleagues in “Red Wall” areas, with Labour-Tory switchers from 2019 saying they’ll only vote Conservative again if they “bring back Boris”.

One senior Labour MP even tells me they suspect a restored Johnson could attempt a snap election this October. “He’ll say ‘I got some things wrong, but I got you Brexit, I did my best on Covid and I was right about Putin. Give me a new mandate to finish the job.’ And unlike us, he keeps it simple.”

“The fact that we would pile up voters in Holborn and St Pancras is utterly irrelevant when Boris can help them hold on to seats in the north. When my voters hear us say ‘tax the rich’, they think ‘are they going to tax me next?’ When we talk about ‘the poor’, they think ‘they’re not interested in me’. Boris is a roll of the dice, but he could make them the largest party [in a hung Parliament].”

Interesting stuff. Not long now until the local elections, Rishi…