Boris Johnson’s former campaign manager ‘hasn’t decided yet’ whether to back his new bid

Security minister Ben Wallace ran Johnson’s leadership campaign in 2016 and threatened to go “Game Of Thrones” on Michael Gove after he scuppered his candidate’s chances, opening the door for Theresa May’s coronation.

Wallace would only say he had not yet decided whether to back Johnson when asked directly on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He said: “I haven’t made a decision yet.

“The one thing I have learned from being inside a campaign is we’ve got another 10 days – your listeners will be dead bored.

“What we do need to do is make sure this race is about getting the right person to lead the country, but I’m not going to bang on about it.”

Meanwhile James Cleverly has pulled out of the race to Britain’s next prime minister, saying it was “highly unlikely” he would have won.

He said it had become clear “MPs weren’t comfortable” with selecting a new face and that the party was not prepared to “skip a generation.”