By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor
In huge blow to David Cameron, London Mayor Boris Johnson has decided to back the “Brexit” in the upcoming EU referendum.
After a mammoth round of negotiations in Brussels, Cameron hoped his biggest hitters would support the deal he arrived home with. However, in the case of Boris, arguably the biggest personality in the party, this won’t be the case.
It is a huge boost to the Leave campaign; Boris had admitted he has sat on the fence and gone through much soul-searching to arrive at this final decision.
The BBC has broken the story and he will formally outline his position in a Daily Telegraph column at 10pm this evening.
The PM had pleaded with Johnson to not “link arms” with George Galloway and Nigel Farage and push for Britain’s exit from the European project. However, he has ignored his leader and chosen a different path.
Polls have shown that is the London Mayor had backed the PM it would have significantly helped Cameron in the referendum. Now it leaves the PM firmly on the back-foot.
There will be questions raised whether Boris is backing the exit from the EU because he truly believes this is the right move for Britain or that it will boost his chances of leading the party in the future. Michael Gove has been also accused of the same thing when deciding to back a “Brexit.”