Boris Johnson considering a run for UK prime minister

Out of power for a matter of months, comeback king Boris Johnson is once again being touted as the new leader of the governing Conservative Party and Britain’s prime minister.

The man who was forced to quit as prime minister in July, brought down by some of the very lawmakers he now hopes will rally around him, is, according to Conservatives and a former aide, taking soundings to see if he has the support to return.

It would be an extraordinary political resurrection for the former journalist, who left office shrouded in scandal but defiant, grumbling that he was brought down by the “herd” – a swipe at the Conservative lawmakers who turned against him.

In September, in his final speech as prime minister, Johnson, 58, compared himself to a booster rocket that had fulfilled its mission and to a Roman dictator who, in old age, left his farm to take control of the state and fight off an invasion.

When Johnson left Downing Street, his aides said he was going to embrace a quieter life, no longer being “public property” and able to make more money by going on the speaker circuit. One said he was considering setting up a foundation to help Ukraine, of which he was a vocal supporter against Russia.

After his successor as prime minister, Liz Truss, quit on Thursday after just six weeks in power, the Ukrainian government’s Twitter account even published, and then deleted, a meme saying “Better call Boris”.

Johnson’s former aide, Will Walden, said his one-time boss would only run if he was assured a victory.