Perhaps no one in British history has suffered such a swift downfall as Boris Johnson. The prime minister, just months ago comfortably sailing to a second election victory, is now possibly the most hated man in the country outside of the prison system. The reversal in fortune is unprecedented: Richard III suffered a pretty sharp drop in the polls after murdering his nephews, but there aren’t many other examples. And all Johnson did was to have some wine-and-cheese parties.
It’s the absurd comic ending perfectly suited to a slapstick career. Johnson laughed his way to Downing Street, charming the public via a career in television, and got through the two biggest challenges to face post-war Britain — Brexit and Covid — only to be sunk by a cake. He was a funny man who first became a celebrity via a comedy news quiz, yet his downfall appears unusually tragic and lonely.
He was always a contradiction, an act. He was the most libertarian of rulers who was forced to close the pubs and ban casual sex, a comedian who ruled during the most serious of times. He was an entertainer, and just wanted to be loved. The biggest contradiction was that, despite seeming to have all the trappings of Britain’s old aristocracy, he was born into the purple of the liberal elite — yet found himself running the Conservative Party.
British commentators, obsessed with the schools and universities they attended and the status and moral weight this grants them, are acutely attuned to the old trappings of class. For this reason much is made of Johnson’s membership in Britain’s old elite. He is the 20th prime minister to have been educated at Eton (whereas just ten attended Britain’s 20,000 non-fee-paying schools). He read classics at Oxford, like fellow Brexiteer and 19th-century throwback Jacob Rees-Mogg, and was a member of the notorious Bullingdon Club, an elitist society for upper-class hooligans who like to smash up restaurants. The images of the Bullingdon boys in their evening dress used to fascinate the British public: the very picture of Tory arrogance and contempt (think Draco Malfoy, foil of Harry Potter).
[Read It All]
See Also:
(2) The Northern Ireland Protocol has got to go
(3) Canada threatens to unleash Brexit bombshell on UK – Trudeau poised to block huge deal
(4) Rishi goes nuclear and scraps PM’s green plans – six UK oil and gas fields to be fired up
(5) ‘Isn’t what we voted for!’ Brexit fury at PM for STILL being held ransom by ridiculous EU
Watch:
