Jeremy Hunt pledges to serve under Boris Johnson if Tory frontrunner becomes Prime Minister

Stephanie Cockroft16 June 2019
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Jeremy Hunt has said he would serve Boris Johnson "loyally" if the Tory leadership frontrunner becomes Prime Minister.

The Foreign Secretary came a distant second to Mr Johnson in the first ballot of the leadership battle, but has described himself as an "insurgent" in the race to Number 10.

Speaking on the Andrew Marr show today, Mr Hunt billed himself as the alternative to Mr Johnson.

But he said he would serve in Mr Johnson's government if he becomes the new Conservative leader.

He also ruled out helping to bring down a Conservative government that pursued a no deal Brexit.

Rory Stewart, another leadership contender who also appeared on the BBC show on Sunday morning, firmly ruled out serving in Mr Johnson's cabinet.

Boris Johnson has been backed by Esther McVey
REUTERS

Mr Hunt said: "If Boris Johnson becomes Prime Minister I will serve him loyally."

Despite Mr Hunt's pledge, he stepped up his attack on Mr Johnson's Brexit stance, suggesting he had laid of promises that are "impossible to get".

He said: "What Boris is offering, a hard stop at any cost on October 31, means that he is effectively committing the country to no-deal or an election.

"The difference between me and Boris, is that I would try for a deal.

"I am not going to create a set of circumstances that makes it all but impossible to get a deal because I think we should be offering the country some better choices."

He also said Britain is "almost certain" Iran was behind attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, adding that London did not believe anyone else could have done it.

He said: "We have done our own intelligence assessment and the phrase we used is almost certain ... We don't believe anyone else could have done this."

"We are urging all sides to de-escalate."

His appearance on the BBC show came ahead of the first televised TV debate on Channel 4, being held on Sunday evening.

Mr Johnson is the only remaining candidate who will not appear on the debate.

Mr Hunt will appear alongside Mr Stewart, Michael Gove, Dominic Raab and Sajid Javid.

Mr Johnson secured 114 votes in Thursday's ballots, 71 votes ahead of Mr Hunt, who received 43.

With fresh backing from former rival Esther McVey , he goes into the second week of the campaign the clear favourite to succeed Theresa May.

However, none of the five other remaining candidates has shown any sign they are ready to withdraw to give him a clear run.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in