SENIOR Tory Eurosceptics are pushing Boris Johnson to make Iain Duncan-Smith his deputy PM to ensure he doesn’t waver on his Brexit pledges.
The Tory leadership frontrunner has begun drawing up his Cabinet in tight secrecy, with only chief of staff Sir Eddie Lister knowing his full thinking.
If Boris gets into No10 next week as most expect, it has emerged that as many as 12 Cabinet ministers will resign or be fired by him – the biggest clear out in nine years.
Senior figures in the arch-Tory eurosceptic European Research Group have told him they want to see former Tory leader IDS become his deputy to make sure he sticks to his “do or die” pledge to deliver Brexit on October 31.
One prominent member of the group – who gave Boris their key backing in the contest – told The Sun: “Boris will come under huge pressure immediately from the civil service to water down his campaign pledges.
“It will therefore be essential to have a wise head like Iain’s who knows his way around Government alongside him to hold the line from day one.”
The appointment – either in name or as de facto deputy with the title First Secretary – would signal a remarkable comeback for Mr Duncan-Smith.
He resigned from the Cabinet in 2016 after a row with then PM David Cameron on welfare cuts.
IDS has since become one of Boris’s closest allies and stepped in as his leadership campaign chair to steady it after a rocky start.
Other appointments by Boris being tipped by Tory MPs close to him include making former leadership rival Sajid Javid his Chancellor and his close ally Liz Truss Business Secretary.
It is also thought that Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt could be promoted to Home Secretary, to fulfil Boris’s pledge during The Sun’s leadership debate on Monday to give a woman one of the great four offices of state.
Despite their bitter fight during the leadership race, it is thought Mr Johnson will probably keep Jeremy Hunt as Foreign Secretary in a bid to unify warring Tory factions.
Another senior Brexiteer Tory MP told The Sun: “Boris has got a big choice to make when he assembles his Cabinet.
“Does he go for party unity, and make it 50/50 Remainers and Brexiteers, or does he go gang busters for a full blown Brexit war cabinet.
“Nothing else matters than making sure we leave the EU on October 31, his entire departure depends on it, so that’s what he should focus on.”
Other Tory MPs think Boris will spark deep disappointment with his reshuffle, as he won’t be able to accommodate all the Tory MPs he has offered a Government job to.
One backbench Tory MP, who says he was promised a job as a minister if he backed Boris, said: “A good third of the Parliamentary party is going to be pretty fed up by the end of next week when they realise Boris promised everyone a job and then there weren’t enough to go round.
“It’s become a running joke now as he said the same thing to everyone.”
