Boris Johnson made a suggestion that he wanted to come back during his farewell statement as prime minister in the House of Commons.
As Mr. Johnson defended his record before MPs, “task essentially achieved – for now.”
Her predecessor is said to be planning to run in the week-long election to succeed Liz Truss, who was forced to quit yesterday.
If Mr. Johnson were to prevail in that conflict, he would be following in the footsteps of his idol Winston Churchill, who returned to power as prime minister in 1951, six years after being ousted in the 1945 election.
When Harold Wilson’s first tenure as prime minister was terminated by the defeat in the 1970 election, he accomplished the same feat before returning to office in 1974 after defeating Edward Heath to gain more seats.
In addition, previous Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin had three terms in office, the first from 1923 to 1924 and the final from 1935 to 1937.
However, while they were out of Downing Street, neither Churchill, Wilson, nor Baldwin resigned as leaders of their respective parties.
Mr. Johnson would have to turn to another Labour Prime Minister from the 20th century, Ramsay Macdonald, for direct inspiration. Macdonald succeeded as PM despite losing his seat as an MP and being ousted as Labour leader.
Following his seat loss in 1918, MacDonald spent his first term as Labour leader from 1911 to 1914. He then returned to the House of Commons in 1922. Shortly after, he returned to becoming the PM and was elected Labour leader.
Many prime ministers have held office more than once dating back to the 19th century, with William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli being two of the most noteworthy.
Gladstone held the position of prime minister four times, the last three after his resignation as party leader and subsequent return.
Anthony Seldon, a historian, said in an interview with MailOnline that returning prime ministers used to be “the norm.” However, he went on to say that “for the previous 50 years, nobody has,” as most presidents now do when they leave Downing Street.
Sir Graham Brady, the 1922 Committee’s backbencher leader, announced a week-long timeline for selecting a new leader last night.
Conservative MPs have started endorsing Mr. Johnson, Rishi Sunak, and Penny Mordaunt as the top three candidates.
In an online members’ vote, candidates must get the support of at least 100 MPs in order to advance to a possible run-off. There will only be two nominees presented to the members.
Less than two months after leaving office, Mr. Johnson has a genuine chance of becoming prime minister again because to the support of several MPs.
After Neville Chamberlain was forced to resign in May 1940, Churchill was elected prime minister for the first time.
Churchill’s Conservative Party lost the 1945 election, despite the fact that he afterwards led Britain to victory in the Second World War and had immense popularity throughout the nation.
The welfare state was established by the new Labour government, which was headed by Clement Attlee, a member of his War Cabinet.
Churchill, who had served as Conservative leader for more than five years while the party was in opposition, was re-elected as prime minister when Labour ultimately lost the 1951 election.
He stayed at Downing Street for a further four years until he left for the second and last time in April of 1955 as a result of a stroke he had that year.
Wilson initially assumed the position of prime minister in October 1964 and held it until June 1970, when Edward Heath’s Conservatives won the election that year.
After serving as his party’s leader for four years, the Labour politician left Downing Street in March 1974 and returned.
He abruptly left office in the middle of his second term, enabling James Callaghan to take office as prime minister in April 1976.
Although Baldwin’s first tenure as prime minister started in 1923, it only lasted until 1924, when he called an election that Labour won.
Ramsay Macdonald of Labour then made his first appearance in Downing Street, although he only served as prime minister for nine months before losing the 1924 election.
Baldwin then held the position of prime minister for a second time, from 1924 to 1929, when he barely lost the vote.
Once again serving as prime minister, Macdonald held that position until 1935, when Baldwin took over and won the election that year. Then, Baldwin held the position of PM for a further two years until stepping down in favor of Neville Chamberlain.
Gladstone’s first of a record four terms as prime minister started in 1868 and ended in 1874.
He was elected to the House of Commons for the first time in 1832 and held a number of Cabinet positions, most notably Chancellor of the Exchequer.
He left his position as head of the Liberal Party when his first term as prime minister ended, but he later returned and took office once again in 1880.
Five years later, in 1885, his second term in government came to a close. The only five months of Gladstone’s third term as prime minister were from February to July 1886.
The seasoned politician then held office from 1892 to 1894 for his last term. When he was finally appointed, he was 82 years old.
His last tenure ended as a result of his adamant opposition to his colleagues’ demand to raise navy spending.
Famously advocating vehemently for Irish Home Rule, Gladstone was unsuccessful in getting legislation through Parliament to enact it.
For the first time, Disraeli, a fierce adversary of Gladstone, held the position of prime minister from February 1868 to December 1868.
Before Gladstone’s Liberals won the 1880 election, he returned to Downing Street in February 1874 and stayed there for little over six years.
Share on Facebook «||» Share on Twitter «||» Share on Reddit «||» Share on LinkedIn