Boris Johnson advocating a 'vote for anyone but Rishi' strategy in the UK PM race

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• Jul 16, 2022 | Poonam Nath

Boris Johnson, the UK's acting prime minister, has been pleading with Tory candidates who are falling short of Rishi Sunak not to support his former Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Digital Desk: As the race for Britain's next prime minister intensifies, Boris Johnson is urging his allies to vote for "anyone but Rishi Sunak," according to local media. 

Boris Johnson was forced to resign from both his position as the leader of the Conservative Party and the UK prime minister after becoming embroiled in a series of scandals.

The interim prime minister of the UK has been pleading with Tory candidates who are trailing Sunak in the early rounds not to support his former Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Johnson reportedly spoke with unsuccessful candidates to persuade them to oppose Sunak even though he had previously declared that he would stay out of the race and refrain from publicly endorsing or interfering in the election process.

Johnson and his team are allegedly waging a covert "anyone but Rishi" campaign in response to the outgoing PM's sense of betrayal following Sunak's resignation. 

Sunak's resignation from 10 Downing Street was the final and most fatal blow to Johnson's premiership, despite being inundated with resignations in his last few days of employment.

"Rishi is despised by the entire No. 10 (Downing Street) team. It is personal. It is venomous. They don't hold Sajid Javid (Saj) responsible for bringing him down. They accuse Rishi. They believe he planned this for months," a source told The Times.

The winner of the first two rounds of voting by Tory Members of Parliament was Rishi Sunak, the son-in-law of Infosys founder NR Narayan Murthy. He will now participate in several televised debates against his remaining rivals.

THE "dirty dossier" OF RISHI SUNAK

Even though Sunak is winning, a shady document being circulated to discredit him has marred his campaign.

Days after Sunak posted his campaign video on Twitter, a previous clip of him started circulating online. A lot of buzzes was generated by the widely shared video in which Rishi Sunak, age 21, is heard declaring that he has no friends from the working class.

On the Tory WhatsApp group last Sunday, rumors of damaging briefings against Sunak and a purported "mucky memo" or "dirty dossier" started to circulate.

The Sunday Telegraph obtained the 424-word attack, which contained personal attacks, and called the Indian-origin British MP a "schoolboy" and a "liar" who cannot be trusted on taxes. 

Also Read: Rishi Sunak received the most votes in Round 1 to determine the future UK PM