In an unprecedented move, Johnson became the first former prime minister to be found guilty of lying to Parliament. Although he insists that he will return to politics, there is no certainty as to how or when and, above all, if his party will continue to shelter him with his support.
His obsession with looking like World War II hero Winston Churchill is well known. To show himself as the heir to his ideas, Johnson wrote The Churchill Factor in 2014.
Nine years after the publication of the book, Johnson has not reached his legacy of completing Brexit in 2020 to get closer to his idol.
What’s more, he has been forced, again, and after a humiliating investigation, to step aside and resign his seat in the British Parliament that he has held, on and off, for more than 20 years.
Because of Partygate, the Police investigated him and fined him. He also his wife Carrie, and the current premier, Rishi Sunak. The crime was breaking the confinement laws of the Covid-19, created by the Government itself.
The Parliamentary Privileges Committee inquiry concluded, following an inquiry, among others, that if Johnson had not resigned, it recommended suspending him for 90 days, a punishment with the intent to be.
Thus, he would almost automatically lose his current seat as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, on the outskirts of London.
The committee also found, in its 106-page report, that the former prime minister deliberately lied repeatedly about the Downing Street parties, which he called business meetings.
In another unprecedented move, the Committee recommended that he not be granted an ex-MP’s pass so that he cannot easily re-enter the Palace of Westminster, a huge punishment for the man who was the head of the British government less than a year ago.
“Lies are indeed the golden thread running through the privileges committee report, but they are Johnson’s own and not those of MPs. The man who was fired from the ‘Times’ as a reporter for making up a quote and from the conservative caucus for lying about an affair, has long had a relaxed relationship with the truth.
Boris Johnson is a liar and law-breaker. He’s treated the public with utter disdain.
And while these Conservatives fight among themselves again, the country suffers.
People are fed up. Rishi Sunak should call a General Election and give people the chance to end this charade.
—Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) June 15, 2023
Meanwhile, the House of Commons will vote in the coming days whether or not to support these recommendations. This vote will actually be the true indicator of whether or not Johnson continues to be the great conservative figure, on which his political comeback depends.
Witch hunt?
Minutes after the Parliament’s report was made public, Johnson spared no qualifications and epithets to minimize his conclusions.
He began by saying that it was a dark day for British democracy and also called it “garbage, a lie” and that “a political assassination against him” is being committed.
Like some other world leaders, Johnson and his allies have been determined to try to deflect the seriousness of the report, derived from their scandals, calling them a “witch hunt.”
At the same time, he accused the Privileges Committee, which he called a Kangaroo court – an unfair process – and of playing politics with his case.
“It shows that the report is deliberately trying to harm Boris Johnson,” said Jacob Rees Mogg, one of his most loyal squires.
For her part, Labor deputy boss Angela Rayner compared Johnson to Donald Trump “not only is he a lawbreaker, but he is a liar.”
After all the lying and lawbreaking, Boris Johnson’s pathetic attempts to smear the Privileges Committee expose the poundshop Trump he is.
Enough of this Tory psychodrama at the British public’s expense. Time for a fresh start with a Labor government.pic.twitter.com/FUFgM6DhPx
— Angela Rayner ? (@AngelaRayner) June 15, 2023
A farewell that keeps the intention of returning
In politics there is nothing written and less in the chaos that has dominated the British in the last year, having Johnson as its protagonist.
In his letter of resignation as an MP, on the eve of the report’s publication, Johnson said he was “sad” to be leaving Parliament, but said he would return.
The only certain thing is that there is no certainty in how or when it could do it. It is not known, for sure, how affected his popularity is after a long chain of scandals. Only a few elections could be an indicator.
According to Ian Dunt, author of How Westminster Works…and Why it Doesn’t, the Conservative party’s patience with its former leader is reaching its limits, despite the fact that one faction, more to the extreme right, continues to embrace his political project.
There are 352 Tory MPs. Just seven have publicly indicated they’ll come to Boris’s aid by voting against the partygate report.
— Ben Riley-Smith (@benrileysmith) June 15, 2023
“It is highly unlikely that he will get anything done before the next election. So if, as we hope, the Conservatives lose, he would be in no position to try to come back. The most likely outcome is trying to fight for a seat in about 18 months,” Dunt says.
Precisely, the impact of Johnson’s departure not only affects his political career, but also the possible performance of the Conservatives in the next general elections in 2024.
Johnson is a controversial and popular figure who attracts votes with his quirky personality.
Unlike Boris, the current prime minister, Rishi Sunak, continues to falter among their ranks because he is not as popular and has also failed to deliver on the promises with which they won the government in 2019.
“Right now the Conservative Party looks completely crazy to the average voter. So we have to remember what the voter is facing right now: inflation, mortgages and the state of hospitals in this country, ”says Dunt.
Britons obsessed with the importance of history, of their history, will remember that, although Johnson bears little resemblance to Churchill, the great former prime minister had to hand over power to Labor Clement Attlee in 1945.
The history that seems cyclical and erratic seems to be fulfilled again.
According to projections, Labor will seize power from the Tories at the polls, possibly in 2024, which they have held for 13 years and with much controversy.
