Boris Johnson might be a Brexiteer prime minister but he needs a balanced cabinet to unify the country

Two former senior cabinet ministers discussed their prospects of returning to the front line under Boris Johnson. Both endorsed him for the Tory leadership, at least partly in the hope of reviving their careers. But they judged that they are among about 50 Tories who think they have got a chance of landing one of the 23 cabinet posts.

As one of the pair told me: “You think you’ve got a ticket for the plane, but when you get to your seat, you find someone else sitting in it.”

Team Boris is adamant that he has not promised people jobs; he got himself in a typical pickle when he did so three years ago in his abortive run for the leadership. But, inevitably, that is not how some would-be ministers who have spoken to him view it.

Many are bound to be disappointed when Johnson, the expected victor in the Tory leadership race, announces his top team after succeeding Theresa May next Wednesday. There are at least five serious contenders pitching to be chancellor: Sajid Javid, Liz Truss, Matt Hancock, Andrea Leadsom and Dominic Raab. I suspect Javid will prevail.

Johnson has a dilemma over Jeremy Hunt, who has fought a more aggressive leadership campaign than Boris had bargained for. One Johnson backer said: “Jeremy gives the impression of someone who thinks the next government will not last long, and is marking himself out as the one to pick up the pieces.” At one point, friends of Boris suggested Hunt would be offered the relatively lowly post of leader of the Commons. The threat might have worked. After a bruising clash in their ITV debate, the two men seem to have agreed in advance not to kick lumps out of each other in their final head-to-head for The Sun this week. It may help Hunt’s chances of retaining his job as foreign secretary.

As he mulls over his appointments, Boris is getting conflicting advice. In his right ear, fellow Leavers urge him to rely on true Brexit believers and not take a risk on late converts like Amber Rudd and Hancock, warning they cannot necessarily be trusted to support a no-deal exit if the crunch comes. In Johnson’s left ear, other allies tell him he must appoint a unity cabinet from both sides of the Brexit divide.

Hardliner Brexiteers argue that May tried the conciliatory approach and it failed. Leadsom told the Daily Mail: “There are many talented colleagues in the Conservative Party but the reality is the next government cannot risk the breakdown of collective responsibility that was experienced over the last year by the current government.”

Johnson will demand his cabinet ministers sign up to his strategy in advance of leaving the EU on 31 October “with or without a deal.” The ultras fear that Rudd will agree now but still threaten to resign if the cliff edge loomed, repeating the problems that May faced when Rudd, David Gauke and Greg Clark publicly opposed no-deal before the original March deadline.

By being prepared to countenance a no-deal now, Rudd appears to have upset everyone. Some of Boris’ erstwhile allies in the anti no-deal brigade feel betrayed. In my view, Boris cannot afford to waste her talent; she should get a seat at the top table.

Rudd, a supporter of Hunt, believes parliament will likely block no-deal. She was surprised that Boris and Hunt hardened their stance by calling for the Irish backstop to be scrapped rather than reformed. She warned: “I think that their views will collide with the reality when whichever one wins starts negotiating — and starts dealing with parliament, which may be more difficult than they think to engage with.”

Rudd was quickly proved right on Thursday, when the Commons put down a thick marker by voting to make it harder for Boris to suspend parliament to force through no-deal. Johnson should take note of the 41-vote margin. He cannot shut down parliament, a crazy idea in the first place. This skirmish was a painful reminder of the guerrilla warfare he will face if he opts for no-deal.

Current ministers who oppose that course, including the chancellor Philip Hammond, will probably jump to deny Boris the satisfaction of pushing them out. This will create spaces the new PM needs. But he should resist the temptation to fill them all with those who take the true path on Brexit.

We will hear a lot of the phrase “One Nation” from Johnson’s lips next week. Big jobs for Javid, a 2016 Remainer and the first ethnic minority person to hold a major office of state as home secretary, will be trumpeted as evidence of it. But the new PM will have to go much further to live up to his own billing. He should reject the advice of those demanding a government of Brexiteers, and reach out to former Remainers by including them in a balanced team.

It's in Johnson’s self-interest. If he cannot unite his party, there is no hope of him succeeding in his goal of uniting the country.