Boris Johnson has failed to rule out trying to make a frontline political comeback as he said the Tories can win the next election.
The former Prime Minister was speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai this morning as he was pressed about the political situation back home.
Mr Johnson advised the Tories not to simply try copying Reform UK in order to win back voters, saying it won’t be attractive.
He warned: “Those guys, never forget they were on 0% when I was running the show, and the answer to any political problem is you can’t make yourself more attractive to the electorate as a political party if you try to glomp on monkey glands from some other political party or you try to cannibalise the strength of another party. That won’t work.”
He said the Tories must build their recovery by taking on Labour over the economy, pointing out to voters what Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer are getting wrong.
He slammed the government over their handling of the economy, accusing Labour of having “completely ploughed this thing. They’ve made an absolute hash of it”.
“There’s a massive opportunity for conservatives – as Mrs Thatcher did in the late 70s – to make the point about Labour and their over taxing, over spending, over regulating ways.”
Asked about his own political future the election winner said he could consider a return to frontline politics provided he thought “I could be useful”, however he added: “At the moment plainly there’s nothing I can usefully do”.
He also joked that he’s now “blissfully engaged trying to build my wife a kitchen.”
“It’s a very very expensive and laborious business. You have to build newt motels and goodness knows what. It’s very very time consuming.”
“And I have a lot of young children, which are also expensive.”
Mr Johnson also found time to praise Donald Trump, saying Britain and Europe needs similar leaders in order to take on the far right.
Mr Johnson explained: “The way to crowd out the far right is to listen carefully to what people are saying and to answer their concerns.”
“People want their kids’ skills addressed, their kids’ housing shortages addressed, they want the problems in their country fixed. They will vote for a party that they think really has their interests at heart.”
He praised Elon Musk’s radical savings programme (DOGE) as “great”, saying Britain again needs to copy it.
He warned: “Government is taxing and spending far too much.”
“What Elon Musk said last night in the Oval Office did ring a bell with me. People find that they vote for change and then don’t get it. And unless they get the change they vote for they will vote for more extreme parties.
“Whatever you say about Donald Trump, he fought for four solid years to get those votes and he won that election fair and square.”
