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Science | History | Citizenship

PM sinks into swamp of lies and infighting

Is this the endgame for Boris Johnson? This morning, pressure is mounting on Britain’s leader from every corner. Will the ultimate survivor find a way to claw his way out of the quagmire? In Britain, Prime Minister’s Questions is a ritual that dates back 140 years. But in all that time, rarely has anyone been under so much pressure, from so many different quarters, as Boris Johnson will be when he stands up in the House of Commons to take questions today. Almost every day for the last week, a new crisis has crashed over 10 Downing Street. First there were questions over texts that Johnson had exchanged with billionaire manufacturer James Dyson. That was followed by claims that he had broken the ministerial code by failing to declare funds for his official flat. Then the quote that has dominated the news coverage since Monday: can it be true that Johnson shouted he would “let the bodies pile high in their thousands” rather than impose a third lockdown? And yesterday The Times put another nail in the coffin, reporting that he had wanted to “let Covid rip”. But Johnson’s conduct was already under scrutiny long before these stories, over his affair with entrepreneur Jennifer Arcuri. Many believe that, as in classical tragedy, Johnson’s decline stems directly from the flaws in his character. Many historians have pointed out that Britain’s longest-serving prime ministers such as Tony Blair, Margaret Thatcher and William Gladstone all led dull private lives. In British public life, being boring is an asset. Johnson has always been more colourful, and many thought this was one of his strengths: voters had already priced in his chaotic personality, so they were not shocked by new scandals in his private life. But critics claim that what makes him likeable to voters also makes him a bad prime minister: he is impatient with detail, lazy and incapable of taking things seriously. He is famously economical with the truth. Now Johnson is facing the consequences: when he denies that he ever said “let the bodies pile high”, or that he broke the rules over his flat, the press and the public simply do not believe him any more. Johnson compares himself with Winston Churchill, whose legendary drunkenness did not stop him from being the most popular prime minister in history. But there is much more scrutiny of the prime minister’s behaviour now than there was in the 1950s. Johnson’s failings cannot be hushed up the way Churchill’s were. Instead, Johnson could end his career more like his Labour predecessor Harold Wilson in 1976 – exhausted, paranoid and mistrusted. Yet he has defied political gravity before: when he crashed out of the Conservative leadership race in 2016, and when he resigned after a tumultuous tenure as Foreign Secretary in 2018. Both times, he came roaring back. He could still survive this latest crisis. Is this the endgame for Boris Johnson? Rise and fall Yes, say some. Johnson is increasingly isolated, his support dwindling in the press and Parliament. And the Conservative Party is notoriously ruthless: if it thinks a party leader might be costing it support, it will dump them in a heartbeat. Johnson himself does not seem to enjoy the day-to-day work of being prime minister, and might be glad of an opportunity to exit the stage. Not at all, say others. The most remarkable feature of modern British politics is the ability of the Conservative Party to poll above 40% no matter what. So far, there is little indication that Johnson’s crisis is actually damaging the party’s support. Johnson’s other scandals have tended to blow over sooner or later: by the next election, the public may barely even remember them. KeywordsHarold Wilson - The UK's Labour party prime minister from 1964 to 1970 and 1974 to 1976.

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