Hunt turns up his trolling of Tory leader rival as Johnson hits campaign trail

Jeremy Hunt has turned up his trolling of Boris Johnson after his Tory leadership rival refused to take part in a televised debate this evening as the favourite for Number 10 taunted his opponent and finally took to the campaign trail. 

Both men had been invited to participate in a debate hosted by Sky News but Mr Johnson opted to duck the event, leading to it being cancelled and prompting Mr Hunt to label him a 'coward'. 

The Foreign Secretary doubled down on his goading of Mr Johnson this afternoon as he labelled him 'BoJoNoShow' and committed to holding his own Q&A tonight on Twitter at 8pm. 

A row between Mr Johnson and his girlfriend Carrie Symonds last Friday which prompted a neighbour to call the police rocked his campaign to succeed Theresa May as he faced intense pressure to explain what had happened. 

But the former foreign secretary, who has repeatedly refused to comment on the row, bounced back today with a 'media blitz' which saw him take part in two radio phone ins before venturing out to meet voters in the south east of England. 

Mr Johnson's supporters have grown irritable at an apparent strategy of keeping him away from the public and the press since he secured his place in the final two. 

In a sign that the concerns had been heard, Team Johnson underwent an overhaul today as Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory former leader, was made campaign manager in an apparent sidelining of James Wharton, the former Tory MP, who had been running the show. 

Tory Eurosceptics who backed Mr Johnson said the decision to unleash the front runner on the British public and the appointment of Mr Duncan Smith were linked.

Team Johnson had wanted to face Mr Hunt in the final two because they believed he would be an easier and more docile opponent than Michael Gove who finished third. 

But Mr Hunt has proved himself to be a game challenger and today continued attacking Mr Johnson for failing to face him in tonight's now-cancelled TV debate.    

The self-described 'underdog' tweeted this afternoon: 'Tonight I was meant to be debating Boris Johnson on Sky, answering questions about our plans for Britain. 

'Sadly, Boris has pulled out – which I don't believe is fair on you, the public. So from 8pm I will be answering as many of your questions as poss - tweet me using #BoJoNoShow.'

However, the Foreign Secretary's attempts to provoke Mr Johnson into committing to greater scrutiny do not appear to be working as he said this morning that it did not matter what Mr Hunt said, he would not respond.

Mr Johnson said he would refrain from going tit for tat with Mr Hunt or the Foreign Secretary's allies who described him as a 'bottler' because doing doing so would harm the Conservative Party.

Asked on LBC if he was a 'coward' as Mr Hunt had claimed, Mr Johnson replied: 'I have a maxim in life and in politics which is, I think, nicked from Ronald Reagan, the famous 11th commandment, never speak ill of a fellow Conservative. 

'There is no provocation that any opponent can level at me that will lead me to respond, to dignify that kind of [remark].'

However, Mr Johnson did spell out why he believes he is a superior candidate to Mr Hunt during an interview with TalkRadio.