Boris johnson

Just what do you do with the rest of your life if, aged 58, you have been prised out of the biggest job in Britain? It is a question that Boris Johnson, having delivered his valedictory speech outside No. 10, is now having to answer. The possibility of him returning to Downing Street, as has been mooted by some supporters, is so unlikely that it can be dismissed. He said this morning: ‘I am like one of those booster rockets that has fulfilled its function and I will now be gently re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down invisibly into some remote and obscure corner of the Pacific.’ Yet for him to disappear from public life into obscurity seems too remote

Levelling up is probably not even in the top tier of Liz Truss’s intray for this week, given the pressure to do something big on energy bills, and then to address the multiple other crises including the NHS, the Northern Ireland Protocol and Ukraine. But what she does with her predecessor’s flagship policy is a matter of great anxiety for MPs and activists in Red Wall seats. I spent some time over the weekend with Conservative councillors, MPs and Tory members in Greater Manchester. Unsurprisingly, most of them had supported Truss as be party leader. But most of them were also anxious about the future of levelling up, or whatever

Boris Johnson’s last set piece speech today was typical him. There were references to Ladybird books, attempts to blame the last Labour government, not much detail but lots of optimism about how things are about to get better. Johnson has so dominated British politics these past few years that it is hard to imagine it without him. (Of course, he won’t disappear – which will cause its own problems for his successor – but he’ll no longer be PM). As I say in the magazine this week, his absence will reshape the political landscape because his presence defined it. Keir Starmer has relished attacking Johnson, but he must now pivot. In normal circumstances

Liz Truss has always been more popular with Tory party members than with Tory politicians. The moment of greatest peril for her in the Conservative leadership race was when MPs were whittling down the final two candidates. After being knocked out in the second round, Suella Braverman urged her Brexiteer backers to get behind the Foreign Secretary. Many refused to do so and instead supported Kemi Badenoch, which meant that Truss’s vote count only went up by seven MPs. The momentum could have moved to Badenoch, then behind by just 13. ‘It was the most stressful point of the contest,’ recalls a supporter of the Foreign Secretary. Eventually Truss made

Boris Johnson has written more than his fair share of controversial stuff over the years. Whether it’s jibes at Islam, the Commonwealth or Barack Obama, general statements about blue collar men, working women and single mothers or, er, advice on handling female Spectator employees – ‘just pat her on the bottom and send her on her way’ – there’s always been something to annoy the left. He, for his part, is largely unapologetic, claiming in the 2019 election debates that: ‘If you go through all my articles with a fine-tooth comb and pick out individual phrases, there’s no doubt that you can take out things that can be made to

Boris Johnson is very much the elephant in the room of this leadership race, looming large over both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss. And much like an intimidating pachyderm, neither candidate seems completely confident how to handle him without being squashed. Sunak’s approach is the simpler one: talk about the defenestrated premier as little as possible and for God’s sake don’t mention how the ex-Chancellor helped bring him down. Truss meanwhile has opted to praise the former PM while, er, claiming to be the change candidate who’d take a completely different approach in office. This of course begs the question: what do the Tory members actually think? Are they pining

With just four weeks left in No. 10, rumours are swirling about Boris Johnson’s future plans. Will he quit the Commons or face down his critics on the Privileges Committee? Make a mint on the speaking circuit or champion Kyiv’s cause? With debts, costs and childcare bills, one thing’s for sure: Boris’s next job will probably pay far better than the extra £79,000 he gets to be PM on top of his MPs’ salary. So it’s no surprise then that there is plenty of talk in Fleet Street right now about the Old Etonian resuming his columnist duties. Johnson received £250,000 a year when he was London Mayor to write

After a long period in office, it’s natural for any political party to lose their zeal for governing. As problems mount up, loyalties fray as the stench of sleaze begins to reek. In hushed whispers, MPs begin to talk of a ‘spell in the wilderness’ as opposition looks increasingly attractive compared to the burdens of statesmanship. Some Tories in Westminster appear to be flirting with such sentiments now, judging from the lackluster enthusiasm which the current contest seems to inspire. After a dozen years in office, the thinking goes, could now be the time for a ‘reset’? A brief respite on the other side of the Commons, time for a

Faced with the choice of Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss, some Tories are experiencing something close to sellers’ remorse. Was Boris so bad, they wonder, as they compare the blonde bombshell’s proven qualities to his untested would-be replacements? Now some have taken that a step further and demanded that a secondary question be added to membership ballots in next month’s vote. Under this initiative, the Tory grassroots would vote on whether to confirm the decison of MPs to force Johnson’s resignation. It’s being spearheaded by Lord Cruddas, former MEP Campbell-Bannerman and, er, no one else in Westminster it seems, other than the Telegraph’s politics team. For tonight the paper reports

Boris Johnson has vacated the office of Prime Minister for Liz Truss. Spectator readers may recall his handover notes from the last time he stepped down from one of the best jobs in the world. Read his final piece as The Spectator’s editor here (published 17 December 2005). It is an eternal and reassuring fact of human nature that when an editor announces that he is stepping down from a great publication, there is not the slightest interest in what he plans to do with his life, or even who he was. I have received many phone calls from friends and colleagues since announcing last Friday that this would be my last edition, and

As the Tory leadership candidates prepare for tonight’s debate on Channel 4, I find my mind turning back to the Cleggmania that followed Britain’s first televised election debate. As I say in the Times today, Penny Mordaunt’s current momentum feels a bit like things did in 2010: a previously little known politician is shooting to prominence. Only 16 per cent of Tory voters can recognise Mordaunt but she is now in with a serious shot of becoming PM. Mordaunt’s rise is a product of the unique circumstances in today’s Conservative party. She is managing to have her cake and eat it. She has served in the cabinet, but not Boris Johnson’s cabinet. She made clear for

Of all those revelling in Boris Johnson’s downfall last week, few probably enjoyed it more than Theresa May. It would only be natural for the former Tory PM to enjoy a little schadenfreude from Johnson’s defenestration, given how his resignation and subsequent maneuverings played their role in destabilising her premiership. Outwardly, of course, May has remained Sphinx-like with regards to the leadership, refusing to divulge who she is backing or even say if she submitted a letter of no confidence in Johnson. But there are signs, perhaps, about her true feelings. The Maidenhead MP did turn up to the aforementioned confidence vote while clad in a full length ball-gown, beaming