Boris Johnson has recorded campaign videos for a number of his Tory MP supporters as he continues to snub Rishi Sunak.
The former PM said he was “passionate” that voters should re-elect ally Sir Simon Clarke, who tried to oust Mr Sunak as leader earlier this year warning that the party faced an electoral “massacre” if he remained in charge.
Mr Johnson also urged voters in Peterborough to re-elect Paul Bristow and backed Nick Fletcher in Doncaster East.
The videos appeared on X, formerly Twitter, just hours after a new poll showed Nigel Farage’s Reform party had overtaken the Conservatives for the first time.
The Tories were pushed into third in the survey, by pollsters YouGov, one point behind Reform on 18 per cent to their 19.
The findings will come as a body blow to Rishi Sunak after a disastrous election campaign and risks triggering panic among many Tory MPs.
As he welcomed the endorsement, Sir Simon pointed out that Mr Johnson had won a general election campaign.
He added it had been a privilege to serve in his government and to “help overcome Covid with the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, to deliver the people’s decision to leave the EU and to make sure Ukraine was supported to stand up to Russia’s horrific invasion.”
Mr Johnson has let it be known he is abroad or much of this election campaign. However, it was expected that the ex-party leader would become involved at some point.
In an article earlier this year, Sir Simon said that Mr Sunak has gone “from asset to anchor” and the party faced extinction under his leadership.
Sir Simon said Mr Sunak was not “solely responsible for our present predicament” but his “uninspiring leadership is the main obstacle to our recovery”.
He added: “The unvarnished truth is that Rishi Sunak is leading the Conservatives into an election where we will be massacred.”
He was also one of nearly a dozen Tory MPs to vote against Mr Sunak’s Rwanda Bill as part of a rebellion after attempts to toughen the scheme failed.
Mr Sunak has insisted that voting for Reform would be “handing Labour a blank cheque” as he played down the YouGov poll.
The prime minister predicted a comeback as he stressed “we are only halfway through this election”, saying that the choice between the Tories and Labour would “crystallise for people between now and polling day”.
Mr Sunak, who was taking a break from the campaign trail to meet world leaders in Italy, told reporters at the G7 summit in Puglia: “We are only halfway through this election, so I’m still fighting very hard for every vote.”