Boris Johnson takes swipe at Starmer and scorns Sunak in first campaign appearance

Boris Johnson made his only appearance on the general election campaign on Tuesday night, less than 48 hours before voters head to the polls, and did not appear with or praise Rishi Sunak.

The former prime minister made a surprise appearance at a Tory rally in Chelsea, accusing Keir Starmer of trying to “usher in the most leftwing Labour government since the war” and claiming he would increase taxes and fail to stand up to Vladimir Putin.

Johnson thanked those at the National Army Museum for attending the late event, claiming that it was “way past Keir Starmer’s bedtime”. He thanked the prime minister for asking him to come, but that was the only mention of Sunak in his speech.

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On Labour, he said: “They can achieve nothing in this election except to usher in the most leftwing government since the war with a huge majority, and we must not let it happen.

“Don’t let the Putinistas deliver the Corbynistas. Don’t let Putin’s pet parrots give this entire country psittacosis – which is a disease you get, by the way, from cosying up to pet parrots.

“If you want to protect our democracy and our economy and keep this country strong abroad by spending 2.5% of our GDP on defence, which Labour still refuses to, then you know what to do, don’t you, everybody.”

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Sunak came on to the stage soon after Johnson left, saying: “Isn’t it great to have our Conservative family united, my friends? Just think, it was the other day when Keir Starmer was saying that Jeremy Corbyn would make a better prime minister than Boris.”

The Liberal Democrats swiftly criticised Johnson’s appearance as an “insult to everyone who made heartbreaking sacrifices during the pandemic”.

Sunak used the event to criticise Labour administrations across the country, including in Wales, and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

Johnson appeared to champion all the policies he promoted while in government, and failed to refer to any of his successor’s achievements.