Boris Johnson : From London Mayor to Prime Minister?

Could the Mayor of London be positioning himself  to become the next Conservative leader?

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has come out as a supporter of the Brexit. In a Telegraph column published yesterday, he urged British citizens to vote to leave the EU on June 23rd, he wrote: “We are seeing a slow and invisible process of legal colonisation, as the EU infiltrates just about every area of public policy.”

Many believe that the Mayor of London’s move could be part of Boris Johnson’s maneuvers to become the next Prime Minister. Alan Convery, politics lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, says: “I think it’s widely known that Boris Johnson has ambitions to lead the Conservative Party and to become Prime Minister. I don’t think it is cynical to say that would have come into the calculations as we know that members of the Conservative Party who will decide who the next leader are predominantly eurosceptic.”

Members of the public seem to find strange Boris Johnson’s sudden position on the topic:

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In an article in The Independent, an unnamed source said to be part of the “remain” campaign was sceptical about Boris Johnson’s motives. “This is the most nakedly self-serving piece of political positioning in years,” they said. “Everybody in Westminster knows that Boris doesn’t really believe in Out. He’s putting his personal ambition before the national interest.”

Half a dozen Conservative members have already decided to go against Prime Minister David Cameron and leave the European Union on June 23rd. Boris Johnson, a top Tory politician, has become the natural leader of the Brexit.

The fact Boris is supporting the leave campaign also means it could give the movement more credibility according to Alan Convery: “Two of the figures the in campaign are scared of are Boris Johnson and Theresa May who appear to be two figures able to shift people’s opinions”.

Boris Johnson tweeted today that he believes: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to vote for real change in Britain’s relations with Europe.”

This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to vote for real change in Britain’s relations with Europe. https://t.co/r9yw42tW4U

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) February 22, 2016