Ukrainians voice their love for Boris Johnson after Liz Truss’s demise

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As Boris Johnson ponders another bid to become Britain’s prime minister, he can count on strong support from one quarter: Ukraine.

Many Ukrainian politicians and commentators have been rejoicing at the prospect of Mr. Johnson returning to office, with one even comparing him to Winston Churchill, who famously reclaimed the job in 1951 after losing the 1945 election.

“Boris Johnson is coming back!” Leonid Yemets, a former Ukrainian MP, wrote Friday on Facebook. “Well, exactly like Churchill in his days! Keeping our fingers crossed!”

Mr. Johnson was a vigorous defender of Ukraine during his tenure and had visited President Volodymyr Zelensky three times in Kyiv since the war started, more than any other Western leader. Last August, Mr. Zelensky awarded Mr. Johnson Ukraine’s Order of Liberty, the country’s highest honour. “What I can say is he is a big friend of Ukraine,” Mr. Zelensky said at the time.

Mr. Johnson has been far less popular at home. In July Conservative MPs forced him to resign as party leader and prime minister after a series of scandals that included attending parties during pandemic lockdowns.

His successor, Liz Truss, has now been ousted as well by Tory MPs, and Mr. Johnson is among the leading contenders to replace her.

The Ukrainian government appears to be endorsing Mr. Johnson’s bounce-back. In a tweet just hours after Ms. Truss announced her resignation Thursday, the government posted a photograph of Saul Goodman, from the Netflix series Better Call Saul, holding a cut-out of Mr. Johnson’s face with the tag line “Better Call Boris.”

The tweet was deleted after it prompted a wave of criticism in Britain.

“Have you considered not commenting on other countries’ political processes – with a view to not alienating your broad base of support, and because you simply don’t understand what’s going on there?” tweeted Steve Peers, a law professor at the University of Essex.

“This is incredibly offensive,” tweeted Nisreen Alwan, an associate public health professor at the University of Southampton.

Labour Leader Keir Starmer, whose party is far ahead of the Conservatives in public opinion polls, said he was surprised by Kyiv’s tweet. “As far as Ukraine is concerned, my absolute imperative is to make sure that we’re all supporting Ukraine in the face of aggression from Putin,” he told reporters Friday.

Pavlo Klimkin, a long-time Ukrainian diplomat and former minister of foreign affairs, said he doubted Britain’s support for Ukraine would waver regardless of who was in charge. But he said Mr. Johnson had been instrumental in drumming up support among Western allies for the war effort.

“It does matter who is going to come into this position in the sense of solidarity, in the sense of pushing the allies to do more and to not get intimidated by Putin with all kinds of nuclear and chemical threats,” Mr. Klimkin said in an interview in Kyiv. “I don’t expect another leader to do less on Ukraine, but it’s about personal drive.”

Oleksandr Kraiev, the director of the North America program at Kyiv’s Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism,” said Mr. Johnson’s talents would be better put to use by leading a rebuilding program for Ukraine. “He can become the CEO of this new organization because he’ll sell this idea greatly,” Mr. Kraiev said. “He’ll be a great salesman for any new investments and any new products for Ukraine.”

Mr. Johnson isn’t a shoo-in to retake the premiership.

Under Conservative party rules, leadership candidates must have the backing of at least 100 Tory MPs. That means there will be a maximum of three nominees, as the Conservatives hold 327 seats. If there are three candidates, MPs will eliminate one in a vote among themselves on Monday, and then party members will select the winner via an online ballot next week.

Mr. Johnson is likely to face stiff competition from former chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak, who finished second to Ms. Truss in last summer’s leadership contest.

Mr. Sunak has strong support among Tory MPs, who generally view him as a stable choice, but he is less popular with party members, who are wary of his polished background, which includes degrees from Oxford and Stanford universities and stints at Goldman Sachs and a hedge fund.

Mr. Johnson is less popular among Tory MPs, who kicked him out just three months ago, but he is well-liked by members.

“If Boris stands, and it goes to members, Boris wins,” tweeted Matthew Goodwin, a politics professor at the University of Kent.