It was just a few months ago in July when the then-prime minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, announced his resignation under pressure from his own party amid outcries of scandal within his administration.
Now, following the sudden resignation of his successor, Liz Truss, former Prime Minister Johnson is reportedly a top candidate to resume serving in his prior position, according to the Daily Caller.
Truss was compelled to resign after just 45 days as prime minister after her proposed economic plan was rejected by her own party and sent British markets tumbling downward.
A comeback for Boris?
Johnson is one of a handful of probable contenders for the prime minister position and currently leads most polls with around a third of his Conservative party backing him, the Daily Caller noted.
According to the U.K. Telegraph, he would need the expressed support of at least 100 Members of Parliament to be reinstated outright to the office he vacated just a few months ago.
If none or more than one candidate reaches that 100-member threshold, then a vote will be held among party members to choose the next prime minister.
Scandals and rejected plans
The Associated Press reported in July that Johnson had announced his resignation under pressure from members of his own party due to yet another scandal, this time involving his appointment of an official who had been accused of sexual misconduct.
Johnson revealed that he would stay on briefly as PM in a “caretaker” role, however, and would only step aside once his successor had been chosen and put in place.
That turned out to be former Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who was appointed to the leadership role by Queen Elizabeth II on September 6, just days before the long-serving monarch passed away, according to NBC News.
Her tenure as prime minister proved to be the shortest in British history, though, as she was similarly forced out by the demands of her own party members amid an outcry over the negative backlash and consequences to her proposed economic plan that was intended to slash taxes and spur economic growth but instead caused a rapid downward spiral for the British pound and U.K. economy.
Johnson is not the only candidate under consideration
While Johnson appears to have frontrunner status on being named as the next prime minister, there are a few other candidates who will likely seek to block his reprisal as leader of the U.K.
Per The Washington Post, that includes Rishi Sunak, the former Finance Minister under Johnson, and Penny Mordaunt, the Conservative leader of the House of Commons, though there are potentially other prominent British politicians who could enter the race in the coming days.