Abstract
On 10 Downing Street
‘Johnson, who famously grew up wanting to be world king, has discovered, like Richard II, that the crown he wears is hollow and rounds mortal temples. Whether it takes days, weeks or months for the pin to bore through his castle walls is no longer up to him. His future will be decided by his party – a party that considers itself tainted by his leadership.’
NICK TIMOTHY, The Daily Telegraph
‘One of the arguments being used in the prime minister’s defence is that he is the victim of a vengeful campaign being run by Cummings. And such campaigns must be resisted. Even if this was a complete explanation for the stories (which I doubt), it still leaves this question: who employed Cummings? I certainly didn’t give him the job of senior adviser. Nor did I advise the prime minister to employ him. And he didn’t just show up at No 10 on “bring your ruthless friend to work” day and decide to stick around.’
DANIEL FINKELSTEIN, The Times
‘What will baffle future historians will be the essential purposelessness of this present and most persuasive of prime ministers. I do wonder whether there may be a simple satisfaction to be had from winning another person’s trust, or heart, or mind, or body: not for some useful purpose, but for its own sake, for the pleasure of control; getting the sparrow to peck from your hand. If so, the Conservative Party had better watch out, lest it become the Vampire of Downing street’s greatest and ultimate triumph.’
MATTHEW PARRIS, The Times
‘Boris Johnson promises you ‘global Britain’ but in fact makes your country a laughing stock. He promises to level you up but he just drags everything down to his level. He promises you ‘the people’s government’ but you get the Downing Street version of Marie Antoinette’s ridiculous hameau. He tells you that you can have your cake and eat it, but the only one who actually gets cake is him. In the end, Johnsonism is little more than a con trick, and the jig looks increasingly close to being up.’
MARINA HYDE, The Guardian
‘I can think of several reasons why you might want Boris Johnson gone. Perhaps you are still sore about Brexit. Perhaps you feel he was too strict during the lockdowns, or perhaps that he was too lax. Perhaps you think he is spending too much. Perhaps you are a Labour supporter, and you want an early general election. Perhaps you are a big fan of one of the potential Tory leadership contenders. These are understandable grounds on which to wish to be rid of him. But stepping into his garden to thank officials? Seriously?’
DANIEL HANNAN, The Daily Telegraph
‘If Boris Johnson had sold all the gold in the Bank of England at a ludicrously knockdown price, like Gordon Brown did, or signed Britain up to an ‘ever-closer union’ with the EU at Maastricht, as John Major did, or spent years frustrating the democratic will of the people as Theresa May did – then, yes, he should resign. Instead, he went to a work party for 25 minutes during lockdown, which he should not have. If his presence had led to some catching Covid-19 and dying, that might be another matter, but it did not.’
ANDREW ROBERTS, Mail on Sunday
‘Yes, Boris Johnson has made mistakes, most of them avoidable, many of them infuriating. But who is running the country? The tens of millions of voters who backed BoJo, Brexit and the dream of a prosperous future outside the European Union? Or a cavalcade of malcontents led by unelected Dominic Cummings plus an all-party bunch of diehard Remainers and a chorus of screeching critics on the BBC? Now, in a grotesque escalation of police power, the Met has turned a Downing Street ‘Bring Your Own Bottle’ party into a crime scene. If recent history is any guide, Plod’s next step will be to turn civil servant Sue Gray’s probe on Covid rule-breaking into a jury trial at the Old Bailey. ’
TREVOR KAVANAGH, The Sun
For all Boris’s evident faults – so evident that Conservative MPS knew most of them when they chose him – his record of advancing his party is almost unspotted. Twice managing to become Mayor of London – a very untory city – he then won the EU referendum, thus accumulating the electoral capital to lead his party when Mrs May failed. He won a commanding majority at the ensuing general election on the proposition that he would get Brexit done and crush Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party. The May era proved that no one else could do that.’
CHARLES MOORE, The Daily Telegraph