Boris Johnson leaves office but leaves door open for a dramatic return

Boris Johnson has not ruled out an attempt to return as prime minister, as he leaves Downing Street for potentially the final time.

In his final speech in the role before flying to Balmoral Castle to meet the Queen, Mr Johnson once again took aim at those he blamed for his downfall.

“The baton will be handed over in what has unexpectedly turned out to be a relay race,” he said outside of Downing Street early yesterday morning.

“They changed the rules half-way through but never mind that now,” he added.

Hinting that this may not be the final time that he will be in Downing Street, he used a Classical reference from Ancient Rome, saying that he, like the Roman statesman Cincinnatus, “I am returning to my plough”.

After leaving political life, Roman history suggests that Cincinnatus returned as a ruler, at the insistence of the people.

Mr Johnson, before becoming prime minister, has often said that he would serve the country if he was “called from his plough”.

He used his speech to both reinforce what he felt were his top achievements in office, such as Northern Powerhouse Rail, and to pledge his support to Liz Truss who gave her speech several hours later as Prime Minister.

Mr Johnson said that his successor’s government would do “everything” to help those struggling with the cost of living crisis.

“I know that Liz Truss and this compassionate Conservative government will do everything we can to get people through this crisis, and this country will endure it and we will win,” he said.

Mr Johnson’s speech was watched by his wife Carrie, as well as loyalist MPs who were there when he first announced he would stand down two months ago.

Speculating about the future of his political career, he said that it was like a booster rocket “that has fulfilled its function and I will now be gently re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down invisibly in some remote and obscure corner of the Pacific”.

In a message to unite the Conservative MPs who have spent the last several weeks fighting amongst themselves to elect their preferred candidate, he said that he will be offering this Government “nothing but my most fervent support”.

“I say to my fellow Conservatives, it’s time for politics to be over, folks,” he said.

“It’s time for us all to get behind Liz Truss and her team, and her programme, and deliver for the people of this country.

“Because that is what the people of this country want. That’s what they need, and that’s what they deserve.”

He added that if Dilyn, the Johnsons’ dog, and Larry, the No 10 cat, “can put behind them their occasional difficulties, then so can the Conservative Party”.

It has been reported that Boris Johnson will not attend Conservative Party Conference next month, despite suggestions he could derail the event as he did as Mayor of London when David Cameron was prime minister.

Shortly after his audience with the Queen, his Twitter profile was changed to reflect his new status, describing him as the “former prime minister of the United Kingdom”.