GLEN OWEN: The honeytrap MP... and the Godfather

Boris Johnson’s favourite film scene is the ‘multiple retribution’ at the end of The Godfather, when Mafia boss Michael Corleone eliminates his enemies in an orgy of bullets and bloodshed. 

But for the former Prime Minister, who is once again at the centre of speculation about his political intentions, life appears to have imitated art, as one by one his allies have been picked off in often mysterious circumstances.

Allies of Mr Johnson have long believed that this series of mishaps amounts to more than coincidence. Their suspicions have been heightened by the revelation in last week’s Mail on Sunday that William Wragg – the Tory MP at the centre of a ‘honeytrap’ sexting scandal – was allegedly linked to a suspected sting operation which contributed to Mr Johnson’s downfall.

It was claimed Mr Wragg helped to bring allegations of sexual misconduct against key Johnson ally Chris Pincher in June 2022, which led to his resignation as Deputy Chief Whip and an eight-week Commons suspension, before he quit as an MP in September last year.

Mr Pincher had been in charge of so-called ‘Operation Save Big Dog’ to stop rebel MPs from ousting Mr Johnson, and his downfall catalysed Mr Johnson’s departure.

Johnson allies argue that Mr Pincher’s demise was merely the most dramatic of a number of political hit jobs on friends of Boris.

Former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has spoken about the ‘sinister forces’ which vetoed her nomination for a peerage. Mr Wragg was also implicated when he used his role as chairman of the Commons’ public administration and constitutional affairs committee to ask Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, during an evidence session, whether he was aware of ‘any rather forceful communications’ sent by Ms Dorries ‘to senior civil servants’ over the veto.

Boris Johnson ’s favourite film scene is the ‘multiple retribution’ at the end of The Godfather

Mr Case appeared to be prepared for the question, embroiling Ms Dorries in controversy by replying that he was ‘aware of those communications and have flagged them to both the Chief Whip and Speaker of the House’.

Ms Dorries admits to sending trenchant messages – but only to Mr Case.

Former Prime Minister Liz Truss was also a Boris ally before she followed him into No 10. Ms Truss was the victim of a ‘dirty dossier’ which circulated in Whitehall when she was Mr Johnson’s Foreign Secretary, containing lurid and false allegations about her personal life.

Another Boris stalwart, Dominic Raab, had his political career truncated by bullying allegations in April last year – eight months after Mr Johnson quit Downing Street.

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In vain, Mr Raab, who served as Mr Johnson’s Foreign Secretary and Deputy PM, protested that the conclusions of an investigation into his behaviour were both ‘flawed’ and ‘set a dangerous precedent for the conduct of good government’. And in January last year Nadhim Zahawi, whose political profile soared after he was made Covid Vaccines Minister by Mr Johnson, was sacked by Rishi Sunak for failing to disclose that HMRC had been investigating his tax affairs.

Another ally, who we are not identifying, has left politics after facing claims of sexual assault which they say are trumped-up, while former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, a long-standing member of Mr Johnson’s inner circle, is leaving politics because of the ‘personal toll’ on him and his family.

Even if many of his loyal lieutenants have been cashiered, Mr Johnson himself remains undaunted, teasingly failing to rule out a return to frontline British politics last week.

The former PM told students at Georgetown University in Washington that while his return was ‘unlikely in the short term’, it was possible at some point in the future when and if he felt he was needed once more.

‘I think the only circumstances in which anybody should stand for election is if they have something to contribute,’ he said.

Commenting last night, Ms Dorries said: ‘In Mein Kampf, Hitler described how people could be induced to believe a colossal lie because they would not believe that someone could possess the audacity required to distort the truth so infamously.

‘To be successful, the lie just had to be repeated, over and over again.

‘Boris Johnson was removed from office for receiving a fixed penalty notice for not eating a piece of birthday cake which had been brought to his desk.

‘That is the only substantial and truthful fact in relation to his removal as Prime Minister. The rest was often repeated lies, stings and duplicitous manoeuvrings.’

She added: ‘Writing my book, The Plot: The Political Assassination Of Boris Johnson, I was given repeated warnings about what would happen to myself and other spear-carriers loyal to Boris and one by one, those warnings came to pass.

It was claimed Mr Wragg (pictured) helped to bring allegations of sexual misconduct against key Johnson ally Chris Pincher in June 2022

‘Almost everyone I interviewed mentioned William Wragg as a key figure who used his connections to influence events: often to be found in a subsidised Westminster bar, the Carlton Club or in front of a camera calling for someone to resign – most viciously and forcefully, Boris Johnson himself.’

Friends of Mr Wragg, who has now given up both the Tory Whip and his coveted Commons committee chairmanship in the wake of the honeytrap affair, are dismissive of any suggestion that he played a part in Mr Pincher’s downfall.

Sir Charles Walker, a Tory MP and select committee chairman, said that he found all the ‘score-settling’ being directed at Mr Wragg ‘so unpleasant – as is the childlike “what abouterism” justification of those responsible for this nastiness’.

He added: ‘I am cross Will got himself so deep into this terrible fix but did not ask me for help.’

One critic of Mr Wragg doubted that the Hazel Grove MP was Machiavelli reborn.

He told this newspaper: ‘Will’s not so much Godfather as House of Cards, and a pretty hammed-up, amateur production at that.’

Other senior Tories see Mr Wragg as someone who ‘craves attention but then struggles with the heat’.

Just a few weeks ago, Mr Wragg led the charge to sack Sir Lindsay Hoyle over the Speaker allegedly bowing to pressure put on him by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer concerning arrangements for a Commons vote on the Gaza crisis.

However, Mr Wragg’s loss is Sir Lindsay’s gain. Friends say he will not now be pursuing his campaign against the Speaker.

Long before the honeytrap sting emerged, Mr Wragg – who is still only 36 – had announced that he would quit the Commons at the next Election.

Beyond that, his longer-term future is unclear, although one post-Commons career option appears to be a casualty of the honeytrap controversy.

Mr Wragg had been planning to go into business with friend Sir Charles – who is also standing down at the Election – advising people on how to give evidence to Commons committees.

However, that plan is understood to have been shelved.

Despite that, another Tory colleague mischievously suggested that a future consultancy career for Mr Wragg was still not out of the question – on one condition.

‘Namely, that Will tells his clients how not to do things – that would appear to be his forte,’ he said.