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Boris Johnson has landed in the UK ahead of his potential bid to, once again, become Prime Minister.
He dramatically cut short a Caribbean holiday following the resignation of Liz Truss.
The former PM was said to have faced ‘one or two boos’ from ‘bewildered’ passengers on his way back to London.
His British Airways flight was tracked by nearly 7,000 people who had their eyes glued to the FlightRadar24 website.
Mr Johnson is expected go up against Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt in country’s latest race to No 10.
He previously told allies he is ‘up for’ the challenge, despite being on holiday thousands of miles away from Downing Street’s chaos.
After his plane landed at London Gatwick, former home secretary Priti Patel tweeted: ‘Boris has the mandate to deliver our elected manifesto and a proven track record getting the big decisions right.
‘I’m backing him in the leadership contest.’
The former PM, aboard a British Airways flight, has landed in London (Picture: Sky News)
The former PM was pictured on a flight from Punta Cana Airport last night (Picture: Sky News)
Mr Johnson also has support from the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nadine Dorries.
But his former deputy Dominic Raab has warned of a potential ‘Groundhog Day’ and’ fundamental hurdle’ due to the lingering Partygate scandal.
Mr Johnson still faces an investigation by the Commons Privileges Committee over claims he lied to Parliament over lockdown parties in Downing Street.
Documents, emails, pictures and messages have been handed over by No 10 with a source telling the Sun: ‘Boris is screwed.’
The 58-year-old faced a ‘mixed reaction’ on his journey back to the UK (Picture: AFP)
Boris Johnson has been abroad for much of the recent Tory party chaos (Picture: Getty Images)
One MP told the Times: ’How can we have a new leader who is about to have months of privileges committee hearings?’
Commons Leader Ms Mordaunt is the only candidate who has officially declared she is running, but Mr Sunak is expected to soon launch a challenge.
Sir James Duddridge, one of Mr Johnson’s former parliamentary private secretaries, had said last night: ‘I’ve been in contact with the boss via WhatsApp.
‘He’s going to fly back. He said, “I’m flying back, Dudders, we are going to do this. I’m up for it”.’
The MP for Rochford and Southend East was confident that Mr Johnson will get the 100 nominations from Tory colleagues to make it to the next stage of the contest ‘quite quickly’.
Sir James said Mr Johnson will argue he is ‘the only person that’s got a mandate’ from the 2019 general election and that he can ‘bring the party together’.
He said Mr Johnson has ‘learned and reflected’ during less than two months out of office, and knows he needs a No 10 operation that is ‘slicker’ and has ‘command of the details’.
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The 58-year-old is expected to launch a dramatic bid to return to No 10.