It was not meant to fall apart as fast as this. After Boris Johnson won the general election in December 2019, he declared in a victory address: “I, and we, will never take your support for granted.”
The prime minister’s 80-seat majority, a victory for the “get Brexit done” campaign, appeared to leave him impregnable. For 18 months after, Johnson continued to defy political gravity despite repeated missteps, as the pandemic came to Britain’s shores.
“Johnson eyes decade in power,” splashed the Times in May after the Conservatives routed Labour in the Hartlepool byelection, a seat held by Labour for 47 years, with a swing of 16 points. “Jabs, jabs, jabs to jobs, jobs, jobs,” Johnson said, optimistic that a talent for soundbites could amount to a delivery programme for government.
Less than four months ago, the Conservatives were again riding high at their party conference in Manchester. Johnson delivered a policy-light, joke-heavy speech on 6 October – this was “politics as light entertainment” said the Guardian sketch writer John Crace. The government’s wildlife plans were described as “build back beaver”; renewing UK beef imports to the US as “build back burger”. » | Dan Sabbagh | Saturday, January 22, 2022
Partys an der Downing Street und Lügen im Parlament: Boris Johnson muss sich vielen Vorwürfen stellen – und steht vor einer Schicksalswoche: In wenigen Tagen soll ein interner Untersuchungsbericht veröffentlicht werden. Der Premierminister kämpft um sein politisches Überleben. Was Sie dazu wissen müssen. »
