A month after resigning from the cabinet – hastening Johnson’s ouster from Downing Street – Sunak told a Conservative leadership election chase event on Thursday night that Johnson was refusing to answer or return his calls. Asked if he would stop ignoring Sunak’s pleas, the prime minister told reporters during a visit to North Wales: “This is one of those Westminster questions that doesn’t change the price of fish.” “There are many things that change the price of fish, mainly the price of energy, but this is not one of them.” Sunak was asked during an event in Cheltenham if he had spoken to the prime minister since resigning from the government and replied that he had texted him and tried to call, but “perhaps unsurprisingly” Johnson had not answered. Sunak resigned from his role in July, within minutes of former health secretary Sajid Javid, with both men citing standards and integrity as reasons. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Nadine Dorries, one of Johnson’s closest allies, has suggested Sunak was part of a “coup” that toppled the Tory leader, while a senior No 10 official was quoted in the Financial Times last month as calling Sunak a “treacherous bastard ». Another Johnson cabinet supporter told the FT: “Rishi will get everything he deserves for leading the charge to bring down the prime minister.” Johnson, meanwhile, appeared less than enthusiastic about working with Sunak and Liz Truss – the two candidates to succeed him – to devise new measures to tackle the cost of living crisis. “Cash is not only coming in now, and has started coming in, but it will continue to come in over the coming weeks and months,” the prime minister told reporters. Earlier, the chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, said he believed the next prime minister could “hit the ground running” to help hard-pressed families. He said his Treasury officials were “looking at all options” for additional help this winter to ensure either Truss or Sunak had the necessary information to make decisions from September 5.
