Boris Johnson ends comeback bid — but promises another

LONDON (AP) — In the end, all of Boris Johnson’s bluster couldn’t hide the facts: He didn’t have the votes to win the Conservative Party leadership contest and stage a political comeback just weeks after being forced out as prime minister.

The former Tory leader raced back from his Caribbean holiday to test the waters and try to garner the support of enough lawmakers to proceed to the next round. But as British media counted the number of declared supporters for Johnson, it cast doubt on whether he could cross the 100-vote threshold.

“Essentially the Boris Johnson bandwagon blew up,’’ said Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary, University of London. “He really doesn’t seem to have attracted anything like as much support as he hoped he would.”

The 58-year-old Johnson is one of the most recognized — and divisive — figures in British politics. The self-deprecating court jester of a figure led the Conservative party to a thumping election victory in 2019 with his bombastic speeches and populist policies. But critics were repulsed by what they saw as a penchant for bending the rules and embroiling the party in a series of scandals that torpedoed its standing with voters.