Boris Johnson 'planned to oust Rishi Sunak as Chancellor before he resigned,' claims former media chief

9 May 2023, 09:27 | Updated: 9 May 2023, 13:04

Boris Johnson planned to oust Rishi Sunak from his job as chancellor before he resigned, No 10’s former director of communications Guto Harri has claimed.

Harri said Mr Sunak "beat him to it and brought the whole show down" in an interview with Nick Ferrari at Breakfast on LBC.

Harri, who has detailed his time in Downing Street in a new podcast series Unprecedented for Global Player, told Nick he thinks Rishi is a ‘class act’ but there was a ‘fundamental disagreement in policy’ between the two men that went beyond Partygate.

Mr Sunak was widely blamed by allies of Mr Johnson for his downfall last summer, after dramatically quitting as chancellor. His decision to quit was followed by a flood of ministerial resignations that eventually forced the Prime Minister from No 10.

“It wasn’t over a personality clash. There was a limited amount of money left because the government understandably blew a lot of money during covid. What do you do with the money that’s left?," Mr Harri said.

Listen and subscribe to Unprecedented: Inside Downing Street on Global Player

Guto Harri explains how Rishi Sunak outmanoeuvred Boris Johnson

“There was a lot of pressure in the party to cut taxes. That explains why Liz Truss beat Rishi to the leadership.

"There was a lot of pressure from Boris to build nuclear power stations and offshore wind farms so that we didn’t have a cost of living crisis in 10 years time, and Rishi was stubbornly sticking to the idea that the most important thing to do with tens of billions of pounds was to cushion the impact of people's bills today.

"Valid point of view but the tension was building between the two of them."

Read more: Boris 'squared up to Charles' in row over slavery says ex-No.10 media chief

“Frankly if things hadn’t turned out as they did last July, I think over the summer we’d have had a reshuffle and Rishi would have been offered a different job.”

He added that an imminent return to power for Mr Johnson was unrealistic, but suggested that there was a possibility it could happen after the next general election.

Mr Sunak's official spokesman, asked what the Downing Street incumbent thought of the remarks allegedly made by one of his predecessors, said he had not spoken to the Prime Minister about the reports.

The No 10 official added: "The Prime Minister uses appropriate language."

It also emerged in the podcast that Boris Johnson confronted King Charles, "essentially squaring up" to him for branding the Rwanda asylum policy "appalling".

Harri claimed Mr Johnson told him he "went in quite hard" on the then-prince.

Mr Johnson disputed his long-standing ally's account as "inaccurate", with a source saying he "deplores" any commentary on conversations with royals.

Charles and Mr Johnson discussed the King's reported criticism of the scheme as they met in Rwanda's capital of Kigali at a Commonwealth summit in June.

At the time, Mr Johnson described his discussion with Charles as a "good old chinwag" that "covered a lot of ground".

He wrote: "'I went in quite hard', he told me at the time, essentially squaring up to the prince and confronting him about what he - as unelected royalty - had said about the actions of a democratically elected government.

"Prince Charles was busted. He had obviously expressed some criticism, and though he tried to play it down, Boris pointed out the obvious, (saying): 'If you didn't say it we both know your people could ring the newspapers and kill the story. The fact they haven't done that says it all'."

Along with other former prime ministers, Mr Johnson's attended the King's coronation at the weekend.

Mr Harri claimed Charles and Mr Johnson had struggled to get on for years after the politician was late for a meeting while London mayor, but that Rwanda was the final straw.

"Relations never fully recovered and Charles will be relieved that Boris had left No 10 before he ascended to the throne," he added.

Unprecedented: Inside Downing Street - a new Global Player podcast

Mr Johnson brought Mr Harri into No 10 after a clearout of aides over the partygate scandal, bringing back his former City Hall communications adviser into his inner circle.

A source close to Mr Johnson said: "Boris Johnson does not recognise this account and it is inaccurate. It does not accurately reflect any conversation.

"We would never comment on these matters and Mr Johnson deplores any attempt to do so."