"Fantastic, thank god for that. Bring back Boris."

That was the reaction of former Stranglers singer Hugh Cornwell, as Liz Truss announced her resignation as prime minister on Thursday (October 20).

The songwriter was mid-interview, promoting a forthcoming tour and his new album, which is titled, aptly, Moments of Madness.

A Tory leadership contest is under way, with allies of Boris Johnson pushing for him to make a comeback.

Cornwell, who found fame in the '70s and '8os with hits including No More Heroes and Golden Brown, grew up in Tufnell Park and attended William Ellis School.

He said he never supported a particular political party, even in his youth.

“I’m just an observer who will credit people who have got talent," he said. 

"Rachel Reeves should be Boris Johnson’s chancellor. Let’s have a mixed-party cabinet. Why not? Rachel Reeves is a fantastically talented woman and she deserves to be at Boris’s right hand.”

He said he "grew to have respect for [Boris Johnson] because he did a very, very good job on a few things which now is becoming blindingly obvious, in light of recent events”. 

He added that he would be "one of the first to forgive him and say come back and get us back on course". 

"The big issue with him was these, supposedly, parties, where people who were working together...were having a drink together. Now, if you’re working together with people and then you’re spending five minutes having a drink with them...what’s the difference?” 

He said he would choose the former prime minister over Sir Keir Starmer. 

“He can think on his feet very well,” he said. “He’s got a lot of qualities which suit the job. You’ve got to have people who suit the job and I don’t think Ms Truss really had the credentials to fit the job.” 

He added: “The circumstances of society in this country now is approximating what it was like in the mid-70s, with power cuts, three-day weeks, strikes so the rubbish wasn’t being collected - all these sort of things. And that spurred a youth revolution but I can’t see it doing the same now because the young people now haven’t got the attention span to have a revolution.”

Hugh Cornwell's Moments of Madness Tour comes to Islington Assembly Hall on Thursday, November 24. The album, Moments of Madness, is out on Friday (October 21).