Six years after lying the British into the UK’s worst political blunder in its history, Brexit, Johnson is finally politically dead, even if he does not know it yet. But the joy all sensible people feel at his demise must be tempered by the fact no Churchill is waiting in the Tory party wings, capable of leading a unity government through the most grievous fight the UK has faced since World War II
Johnson will go down as one of the worst ever Prime ministers. His term in office will be remembered for his incompetence, laziness, lies, sociopathy, and greed. As bad as his promotion of Brexit was, his handling of the divorce with Europe has been scandalously third-rate. And his Covid policies enriched his cronies while leaving the UK trailing the EU in keeping people alive. So why is Johnson still in his job?
The only reason he has lasted this long is the abject toadying of the Conservative Party, who rated him so highly as a charismatic election campaigner that they remained indifferent as the scandals piled up. His cabinet largely backed him because their supplemented incomes depended on him. British MPs earn £81,932 ($97,671). Members of the Cabinet, who are also MPs, earn an additional salary of £71,673 ($85,441). It would be as if an American politician collected both a Senator’s salary and the Treasury Secretary's pay. And Johnson pulled the strings.
But the dam has finally broken. And the cause is groping. Not by Johnson. But by Chris Pincher, a Tory Deputy Whip. This little-known politico was having a few too many drinks at London’s tony Carlton Club when he groped two fellow tipplers. They complained. And the next day Pincher wrote a resignation letter to Johnson saying, “Last night I drank far too much. I’ve embarrassed myself and other people which is the last thing I want to do and for that, I apologize to you and to those concerned.”
The problem for Johnson is that Pincher has a history of diddling other unwilling men. In 2017, he was forced to quit the same job from which he has just resigned after he was accused of the same crime. In 2019, another complaint was lodged against him when he worked at the Foreign Office. Yet Johnson gave him back his Deputy Whip position. When news of Pincher's latest assault broke, Johnson claimed to know nothing of the previous events.
The problem for Boris is that too many people knew the truth and spoke it. And Johnson has lied so serially that no one believed his assertion of ignorance.
Johnson has thus far survived the twin Partygate and refurbishment scandals, the resignation of two Tory MPs for their own sex scandals, the Owen Paterson affair, and an aborted attempt at giving his then mistress (now wife) a taxpayer-funded £100,000 sinecure at the Foreign Office. Despite this record of incompetence, hypocrisy, and grift, Boris survived a vote of no-confidence in him by Conservative MPs. Although the margin was tellingly close.
But on June 24th, disaster struck. A streak of by-election losses, including some historically conservative seats, was extended as the Tories lost two more. One of which, the Tiverton and Honiton constituency, saw an almost unprecedented swing of 30%. And let us remember he was only in office because he was seen as an election winner.
So tarnished is his reputation now that two senior cabinet ministers, Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid, resigned last night. And today Johnson fired another, Michael Gove, who publicly told him to quit. Even the loyal psychopath Priti Patel, the Interior Minister has told Boris it’s time for him to go.
When will Boris be gone? I do not know. He is tenacious and has a rottweiler’s grip on the job. And there is no point in expecting him to do the right thing, the decent thing, or the thing that would be best for the country.
Sound familiar?
The similarities between Johnson and Trump are eerie. They were both born in New York City. They both have weird hair. They are serial philanderers, cheats, and adulterers with multiple children by multiple women in multiple marriages. They are sociopaths incapable of empathy. And people say they are both charming in private. They lie in the face of overwhelming evidence. They benefit their cronies. Hold their political parties in their thrall. And have dragged those parties into the sewer
Their obsession is to retain power by all means, no matter how damaging it is to the country. They are lazy, incompetent, and self-congratulatory. Their chief skill is to convince heretofore good(ish) people to do bad things. They hire sycophants rather than talent. And will brook no questioning of their policies. They both believe “only I can do this”.
Now both of them see their future crumbling. Boris's days are numbered. And Trump is seeing a shift in party loyalties. It is unlikely that Trump will be the GOP’s nominee in 2024. The Tory political base has finally woken from a drunken stupor to find a malodorous slob in their bed The GOP will realize their emperor has no clothes, and his corpulent excess is not what they expected in their dreams.