Boris Johnson was offered a senior cabinet position by David Cameron on the condition that he campaign for the UK to remain in the European Union during the 2016 referendum, it has emerged.
The revelation comes from a forthcoming BBC documentary marking the tenth anniversary of the vote, in which both men describe a meeting early in 2016 that was intended to secure Johnson’s support for the Remain campaign. At the time, Johnson was Mayor of London and a prominent Conservative figure whose decision was seen as potentially decisive.
Cameron, who was then Prime Minister, told the programme that he offered Johnson a “top five” job, citing the defence secretary post as an example of the kind of role he had in mind. “I didn’t say which job it was, I said: ‘Be in no doubt, defence is a top five job, for instance,’” Cameron is quoted as saying. He added that he wanted Johnson to understand his contribution was valued and that he would be “a major part of the government going forward”.
The offer and the mystery of the fifth job
Johnson, speaking in the documentary, recalled that the offer was made during a tennis match at the United States ambassador’s court near Regent’s Park — a venue Cameron said he could use under a “wonderful deal” for rest and recreation. According to Johnson, Cameron said: “Would you consider joining us on the remain campaign? It’d be much better if … I’d love to have you in the cabinet. You should have a top five job.”
The then Mayor said he was unsure of the exact hierarchy within the government. “I obviously thought about it out of pure curiosity – what was this job? There’s prime minister, chancellor, home secretary, foreign secretary. That’s four. What is the fifth? A mystery,” Johnson said in the programme. He noted that at the time the Remain campaign was the frontrunner in most polls and that many Conservative MPs were backing it, adding: “It looked much brighter and happier if I backed the Government.”
Craig Oliver, who served as Cameron’s director of communications, described the Prime Minister’s mood after the tennis match. “One, that he’d beaten Boris Johnson at tennis, and two, that he may have a concession that he would actually join the government,” Oliver said. Oliver later wrote a book about the referendum, Unleashing Demons, which inspired a Channel 4 drama.
Johnson’s decision and its fallout
Despite the overture, Johnson announced in February 2016 — four months before the vote — that he would back the Leave campaign, saying it was “after a huge amount of heartache”. His decision was a serious blow to Cameron, who had pleaded with him earlier that day to avoid “linking arms” with Nigel Farage and George Galloway in the push to leave.
By that point, Michael Gove, then Justice Secretary and a close cabinet colleague of Johnson, had already declared he would campaign to leave. Gove later admitted to “moral cowardice” for not being upfront with Cameron about his role. Cameron had allowed ministers to campaign on either side of the referendum, a move intended to prevent the Conservative Party from splitting. On 20 February 2016, several cabinet ministers — including Gove, Iain Duncan Smith, John Whittingdale, Chris Grayling, Theresa Villiers and Priti Patel — publicly declared for Vote Leave.
In April 2016, reports emerged of a planned “unity reshuffle” — dubbed “Operation Save Dave” — that would offer senior cabinet roles to leading Brexit figures such as Johnson and Gove after the referendum, in an attempt to heal party divisions. The Electoral Commission officially designated Vote Leave as the official Leave campaign on 13 April 2016, with Johnson becoming a key figurehead.
The revelation about Cameron’s offer to Johnson features in the first episode of the two-part BBC documentary A Very British Civil War, which was broadcast on 8 June 2026. The series includes interviews with Cameron, Johnson, Farage and Gove.
The offer itself came against a broader backdrop in which Cameron’s promise of a referendum was intended to counter the rise of UKIP and satisfy Eurosceptic Conservatives. He had sought concessions from Brussels, including an “emergency brake” on benefits for migrant workers, which were announced in February 2016. Factors that ultimately drove the Leave vote included dissatisfaction with the economy after the 2008 recession, austerity, immigration concerns, and a dual campaign strategy that appealed both to respectable conservatives and to those who felt left behind.
Johnson and Cameron had played tennis together on previous occasions, including a match in Trafalgar Square in September 2011 and another in July 2014 that was part of a controversial fundraising event involving a donation from the wife of a Russian oligarch with alleged links to Vladimir Putin.
Johnson went on to become Prime Minister in July 2019, largely on the promise of delivering Brexit, while Gove recently took up the role of editor at The Spectator. The documentary has now laid bare the personal negotiations that preceded one of the most consequential political decisions of modern British history.
