Boris Johnson: An obituary to a political career

7 July. The day it all got too much for anyone to back Johnson any longer. Boris Johnson has buckled to the pressure caving in around him and resigned as Prime Minister of the UK, bringing an end to a short but controversial tensure shrouded with issues not faced any of his predecessors - most of which were his own doing.

Credit: PA.

By: Sam Feierabend.

On July 7, Boris Johnson buckled to the pressure caving in around him and resigned as Prime Minister of the UK, bringing an end to a short but controversial tensure shrouded with issues not faced any of his predecessors - most of which were his own doing. His resignation is a culmination of a political career that has seen climb the ladder from journalist to the top political job in the country, not shying away from controversy and disgrace.

Born in New York, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson first ambitioned to be 'world king.' He recieved a King's scholarship to study at Eton College, practicing English and Classics. Many recall him as idle, complacent and late - something that would stick throughout his professional career. Oxford University was his next stop, where he continued to study but not without controversy, as he joined the famed eccentric Bullingdon Club. The drinking society is known for their acts of vandalism that has tainted the careers of various politicians for their past association. Despite this, Johnson remained a popular figure and became President of the Oxford Union, but his reign remained indistinguishable, with people questioning his competence and seriousness. The same issues still ring true.

Johnson's education began a life of rule breaking. Credit: The Guardian

Upon graduating, Johnson moved to The Times as a trainee journalist, before quickly being dismissed for fabricating quotes. The lying had begun. A move to The Daily Telegraph did nothing but dampen his reputation, establishing his stance as a strong Eurosceptic. Controversry was not far from his writing, with statements describing Africans as 'picanninies' with 'watermelon smiles'; statements he repeatedly avoided apologising for. He has also refused apologising for offensive statements concerning burkas, instead telling people to 'read the words in context.'

It was in this time, he started focusing on a political career. He first failed to secure candicacy for the 1994 European Parliament Election before losing out on a UK House of Commons seat in the 1997 General Election, running as the Conservative candidate for Clwyd South in North Wales. This act hampered his journalism career - he would frustrate editors by turning in articles late, forcing fellow journalists to stay late to accommodate him.

His outlandish style caught the attention of satirical TV programmes like Have I Got News For You and led to a short stint as editor for The Spectator, where his political comments were wild and wrong. He faced criticism of publishing anti-semitic articles as well as accusations of sexual misconduct in the work place.

The 2001 General Election gave Johnson his first stint as an MP for Conservative safe seat, Henley in Oxfordshire. His speeches in Parliament gained public attention for his speaking style, being satirised and mocked for his voice and vocabulary. A scandal of him having an affair was described by the man himself as 'an inverted pyramid of piffle.' 

In 2007,  Johnson announced his ambition to run as the Conservative candidate for the Mayor of London and won in 2008. After failing to deliver on a promise to donate a fifth of his salary to a charity helping fund student bursaries, Johnson described said salary of £250,000 as ‘chicken-feed’ -  ten-times the UK average wage – another instance of deceit to climb the political ladder. 

 

Boris Johnson quickly became a household name. Credit: The Guardian

 Allegations and controversies continued to come to light with Johnson in the public eye. Various claims of affairs with multiple women, some of whom alleged the then Mayor of fathering their children, came to fruition and were strenuously denied. To this day, muggy waters surround the number of children Johnson has fathered.

During his second term as Mayor, he began a relationship with Jennifer Arcuri, an American entrepreneur. Their relationship was subject to investigation in 2019, after he awarded £10,000 of the mayoral fund to Arcuri's company in 2013. Johnson allegedly did not state the conflict of interest before awarding the money, breaching a ministerial code. 

He returned to Parliament in 2015 which coincided with the EU Referendum - something Johnson largely influenced with his support for the Leave campaign. He famously campaigned with a 'battle-bus', which claimed that leaving the EU would return £350 million a week to the NHS. Another statement proven to be a lie. Johnson found himself as Foreign Secretary in Theresa May’s cabinet – a controversial decision considering his historical statements about other countries. In 2018 he resigned from this post after disagreeing with May’s negotiating style.

Early 2019 saw May’s resignation as Prime Minister, which Johnson subsequently took over after seeing off a challenge from Jeremy Hunt. Just like that, the laughing stock of UK politics now sat top of the tree. He was there to ‘get Brexit done’ , but could not agree a deal. His response was to prorogue Parliament, narrowing the window to block his deal going through – this was found by court as unlawful. He carried on. To push his deal through, Johnson called a General Election for December 2019. He won with an 80 seat majority.

2020 brought the biggest challenge to face a Prime Minister in decades – the COVID-19 Pandemic. Johnson locked the country down on 23 March 2020, weeks after initially being advised to do so. After a breach of rules by his advisor Dominic Cummings, he refused to sack him, instead letting Cummings resign off his own accord. This brought the ‘Cummings Effect’, where the public lost confidence in the government’s handling of the pandemic. Second and third lockdowns followed as waves and new variants hit the country, whilst trying to grapple with a vaccine rollout to get the economy moving again. Still Johnson would rather 'let the bodies pile high' than enter another lockdown.

The pandemic proved another issue for Johnson. Credit: The New York Times.

 Behind the scenes, more worrying actions were taking place. Reports started to arise of secret parties held at Downing Street under the Prime Minister’s watch while members of the public abided by the rules he set, some even living in the knowledge that family and friends were dying alone. He denied this. Then, photos emerged of staff drinks taking place in the garden. He denied knowledge of this. Then, pictures of Johnson raising a glass in a crowded room at a party emerged. He denied that they broke the rules. Then, the police fined him for hosting the parties he had no knowledge of in the first place. He still reiterated they did not break the rules and this did not break code.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was the most recent development. Chris Pincher, Conservative MP, saw allegations about his behaviour over the past decade come to light – namely sexually assaulting two men in a London nightclub. Johnson had been quoted as describing him as ‘Pincher by name, Pincher by nature’ before appointing him as Deputy Chief Whip to the party. He had been briefed on the allegations beforehand.

The mass exodus that followed totalled over 50 ministerial resignations and eventually, Johnson buckled under the pressure and agreed to resign. A dishevelled Boris Johnson stood outside Number 10 to officially announce the decision, probably slightly proud at how he managed to even get there in the first place. A man who has spent decades manipulating and shifting around to benefit himself finally has met his comeuppance after multiple breaches of code, a global pandemic, breaking the law while in office, refusing to apologise for racial and homophobic comments, lying to the public, a war breaking out in mainland Europe, and defending a sex offender. His political career will not be one that is looked back on in fondness.