On Thursday, there were casualties, four close employees left and the favorite to take over as prime minister and party leader, the finance minister in Johnson’s government, Rishi Sunak, stepped down and distanced himself from the boss.

However, Mustad believes that Johnson will remain in office until a final investigative report or the results of a police investigation from those in the Prime Minister’s office make it impossible to remain in office.

– Looks like he will not give up until he gets a knife so hard in the throat, that there is evidence on the table that he has lied and violated the rules. “I think maybe it was the drip that made the cup overflow,” Mustad told NTB.

– We thought it was a game for a long time. He had dug this grave deeper and deeper. But he’s still sitting there, said Mustad.

Position at the party

He said there was now a massive position and play within the Conservative party.

– Everyone is affected by this game. It is within the Conservative Party that the power struggle takes place. Only the Conservative Party itself can overthrow Boris Johnson. They influence each other, there are lobbies all the way here, he said.

He said it would be interesting to see if more conservative politicians now wanted to fight Johnson.

– They are trying to get indecisive people who are still sitting on the fence and want to wait for the police report. There has been some in the last few days, and there has been pressure along the way, but there has also been pressure on the other side. Then of course they said they had to think, that there was no other candidate. Who can win the election like Boris did, said Mustad.

slander

Mustad said Johnson’s remarks about opposition leader Keir Starmer, that he was not prosecuting Jimmy Saville, were almost insulting. This statement was used as justification for some of those who are now withdrawing.

– There are some of those who resigned today, who say they are starting to think about what kind of politician Boris Johnson is and that they can’t live with a prime minister who puts forward such a proposal, Mustad said.

He also believes there has been tension over time for employees at 10 Downing Street following disclosures about parties during the shutdown.