Did Boris get the last laugh as Rishi exits Downing Street after severe poll drub?

In June 2019, when the European corridors of power were still reeling under the impact of the UK's decision to withdraw from the European Union, the ruling Conservatives were clear that Prime Minister Theresa May's successor should be a "true Brexiteer". 

On July 24, 2019, Boris Johnson entered 10, Downing Street, promising to defy 'the doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters' by completing Brexit with a deal by October 31 that year. 

The Tories under Johnson called, and won the elections held in December 2019, essentially on one issue: Brexit.

The Brexit finally came into effect on January 31, 2020 under new Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the cusp of Covid pandemic. 

About 41 months later, after a spree of controversies including the partygate scandal, Johnson was forced to resign. Succeeded by Liz Truss whose tenure infamously lasted less than that of a Lettuce, Rishi Sunak took over as UK Prime Minister in October 2022. 

For the much of his premiership, Johnson saw his relationship with Sunak as that of a 'mentor' and 'mentee' and when Sunak eventually quit as secretary of exchequer on July 5, 2022, 'without even a text', Johnson was aghast.

"Who the f--k does he think he is?," Johnson is reported to have said with a seething reaction in a new book called 'The Right To Rule', authored by Ben Riley-Smith, the political editor of The Telegraph newspaper. 

The author claimed that Sunak began preparing ground for his premiership bid much before February 2023, when Sue Gray's initial investigation findings about Partygate scandal indicted Johnson of violating Covid restrictions to host parties at his official prime ministerial residences. 

"One such indicator came in late autumn 2021, when a special adviser to then Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis overheard the Chancellor’s inner team in a Westminster pub discussing the shape of a Sunak premiership. ‘They were literally plotting out who they thought should be in various positions in the Cabinet,’ said a source familiar with what was heard," claims the book, an excerpt of which was published in The Telegraph. 

The timeline of this claim is significant. 

The alleged discussions related to Sunak's premiership occurred even before December 23, 2023, when 'ReadyforRishi' domain name was registered online, the earliest previously reported indication of Sunak's intent to canvass support for his potential premiership.  

Meanwhile, for Boris Johnson who was still the Prime Minister then, Sunak's potential plans of succession continued to create waves of political discomfort.

"One wild and unsubstantiated rumour he voiced was that Sunak’s father-in-law, Indian billionaire Narayana Murthy, had Dominic Cummings on a retainer," the book claims, while referring to British political strategist who served as Chief Advisor to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson from July 2019 to November 2020. 

Rishi Sunak, along with the Tories, is now out of power after July 4 elections. But the battle between a 'mentee' and 'mentor' for premiership continues to underscore the legacy of two Tory leaders.

(With inputs from agencies)