“The dreadful truth is that when people come to see their MP they have run out of better ideas.”
For the life of him, Boris Johnson cannot seem to get away from controversy.
In British politics and in the field of journalism, Johnson is much-talked about. He has been called entertaining, he has been labelled humorous and his popularity is no secret. His appeal extends way beyond his traditional Conservatives and it’s no secret why he is where he is right now. And with popularity, comes criticism. Johnson’s critics accuse him of elitism, dishonesty, cronyism and being a little too foul-mouthed.
Gambled Everything On An Election- And Won
Boris Johnson has never been one to shy away from proving his critics wrong and defying the odds. When everyone told him he couldn’t get a new Brexit deal, that’s exactly what he did.
This is a mammothian deal- lesser than four years ago, Boris Johnson was the Mayor of London and was unsure of his position on whether to Leave or Remain in the referendum. At the time, Cameron was still Prime Minister and the British economy was stellar.
The Conservatives were concerned that they might just win by a narrow lead, which would mean that it would lead them down the rabbit-hole of internal party politics to settle and finalise a deal on the United Kingdom’s relationship with the European Union.
There is one extremely important thing that Boris Johnson must do- getting the Brexit deal to take Britain out of the EU without further delay through the Parliament by the end of January 2020.
The Brexit vote is heralding in a whole new period of political drama for Britain. Johnson identified the crisis, built on it and eventually benefited from it with the December 12th general elections. Being the spectacular author that he is, Johnson has written a new story for political change in the country.
Is Johnson Painting a Panglossian Picture of Brexit?
Over the last three years, the Brexit decision has plagued British politics. It began with the June 2016 referendum putting the UK on the road to exiting the European Union. Theresa May failed to pass the deal during her tenure, leading to a push for a second referendum with legal wrangling and increased political tensions kept Brexit from happening so far. Getting Brexit done has been Johnson’s campaign promise and it probably was the reason for his win.
Brexit is not a single act, it is an entire process. The first stage of this process is what happens by the end of January 2020 when Britain formally divorces the European Union. Once withdrawn, then ensues the transition period, wherein Britain must accept all of the EU’s rules and regulations. It keeps the economic status quo till as such time until when a new trade deal will be agreed upon. So essentially, nothing changes as of January 31st.
This transition period lasts till the end of the year and this is just not enough time to agree on everything. Which means, U.K. might need an extension period. Boris Johnson does not agree though, he refuses to take up an extension period. This means that both sides have no more than a year to agree on all the parameters of a trade deal. His stern refusal at this point makes analysts believe that Johnson might just give into the EU’s demands, signing on to maintain trade terms while binding the country to its EU’s economic and regulatory order.
Johnson’s guiding principle when it comes to a Brexit decision is sovereignty. His approach is about democratic control and self-governance- where Britain can do things differently from EU and he must be able to speak up while being answerable to the British people about these decisions. He intends to diverge from Europe and that has been Johnson’s whole point of Brexit and has been a stance which has been relatively consistent. The only time when Johnson was on the fence about Brexit was when he was Mayor of London.
Johnson’s Early Life
Boris Johnson, the son of a diplomat and an artist, was born in New York and spent his childhood in Brussels. Having lived in New York, London and Brussels, Johnson is truly a global citizen. After his mother’s health deteriorated, Johnson was sent off to boarding school. His love for reading Classics and upper-middle class British upbringing set him onto a path of stellar educational institutions to pursue his education. He studied at Eton College on scholarship followed by the Balliol College in Oxford. Leadership roles came early on as part of his college life with being elected, in 1986, as the President of the Oxford Union.
Johnson’s Journey from Journalism to Politics
Johnson began his career as a journalist with The Times, but was eventually dismissed from the newspaper for falsifying a quotation. After that, he worked a stint with The Daily Telegraph in position of a Brussels correspondent. His articles during the time had an effect in influencing the growing British right on Eurosceptic sentiment. In 1994, Johnson was then promoted to the position of Assistant Editor which he held for five year after which he moved on to edit The Spectator magazine from 1999 to 2005.
In 2001, Johnson began his political career with the Conservatives when was elected as Henley’s Member of Parliament shadowing as a junior minister under Micheal Howard and David Cameron. While he did largely adhere to the thought processes that the Conservatives have, Johnson took a liberal stance on social issues, especially those pertaining to LGBT rights for votes in Parliament.
Johnson eventually resigned from his MP position and in 2008, was elected as the London Mayor. Winning the mayoral election against Ken Livingstone, overcoming the public’s perceptions of him being an insubstantial politician, to shift his focus towards transportation and crime. He was re-elected for another tenure in 2012.
During this period, he was responsible for overseeing the 2012 Summer Olympics, improving the city’s public transport systems with the introduction of new Routemaster buses, cycle hire scheme, cable car along the Thames along with banning consumption of alcohol onboard most of London’s public transport. In 2015, he was elected as Uxbridge and South’s MP, backing down from his mayorship in the year that followed.
Things began ramping up for Johnson in 2016, when Johnson played an instrumental role in the successful Brexit Vote Leave campaign. Under Theresa May, he served as the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and after being on the receiving end of criticism regarding how May approached Brexit and the Chequers Agreement. In 2019, after May’s resignation, Johnson earned his position as the leader of the Conservative party and went on to become the country’s Prime Minister.
During his time working with the Conservatives, Johnson appeared on quite a few TV shows, the most popular being the BBC talk show ‘Have I Got News For You’. Boris’ talkative demeanor along with the witty yet contemptuous remarks made him a talk show favourite country-wide.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Johnson- the waters in British political scene are choppy and his rise has been threatened on several occasions. After Johnson published an insensitive editorial in the Spectator, he was forced to apologise to the city of Liverpool. He was dismissed from the shadow arts minister position after alleged reports of an affair between a journalist and him. However, in spite of these rebukes, in 2005, Boris Johnson was re-elected to his parliamentary seat. During his recent campaigns too, he has been accused of being a liar, hiding from the media and even treating the people and other politicians with contempt. Fingers were also pointed towards him for running a one-note campaign which is unambitious and lacks a complete manifesto.
Even when Johnson’s political career in full gear, Johnson refused to put down his pen. He authored Lend Me Your Ears, Seventy-two Virgins, The Dream of Rome and The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History.
With Johnson’s recent election victory, he has guaranteed one more thing- he’s the one who governs his own image. The elections also proved one more thing- Boris Johnson is the most powerful Prime Minister in office since Tony Blair’s landslide election victory back in 1997. He’s kept changing the face of British politics and this is just the beginning.