48 newyork| december9–22, 2019
Justlookat him:a chubby, permanentlydisheveledtoff withan
accentthatcomesoff asa parodyofanupper-classtwit,toppedoff
bythattrademarkmopofsilver-blondhairhedeliberatelymusses
upbefore venturingintothepubliceye.Thenthere are thosephoto-
opmomentsinhislongcareerthat seemdesignedtomake himlook
supremelysilly—stuckdanglinginmidairona ziplinewithlittle
UnionJackswavinginhishands;rugby-tacklinga 10-year-oldin
Japan;playingtug-of-warina publicity stuntandcollapsing,suited,
ontothegrass;ordeclaringat onepointthat hewasmore likelyto
be“reincarnatedasanolive,” “lockedina disusedfridge,”or“decapi-
tatedbya flyingFrisbee”thantobecomeprimeminister.
Andyethehas.Andmore thanthat: Thiscomicfigurehassome-
howmanagedtofindhimselfat thecenterofthepopulist storms
sweepingBritainandtheWest—firstby
becomingthemostseniorpoliticianin
BritaintobackBrexitin 20 16,andnow
byplottinga coursethat mightactually
bringtheUnitedKingdomoutofthe
epic,years-long,once-impossible-look-
ingmesshehelpedmake.Justoverfour
monthsintoofficeasPM,heappears
poisedtowinanelectionhecalledand,
if thepollsareanywherenearcorrect,
scorea clearvictoryandtake Britain
outoftheEuropeanUnionbytheend
ofJanuary.
Notsolongago,thisBrexitscenario
seemedinconceivable:What theE.U.
demandedandtheBritishParliament
couldsupportseemedirreconcilable,
andnosingleresolutiontotheBrexit
re ferendumhadenoughsupport to
budgethecountry’spoliticsoutof a mad-
deningstall.Buthere weare, withBoris
havingbudgedit.
Inthepoliticsofthis,hehasbeen
helpedbytheBritishwinner-takes-all
electoralsystem;bya very unpopular
Labourleader, JeremyCorbyn;andby
anoppositionsplitdownthemiddleon
Brexit.Buthedeservescreditforgetting
theE.U. tochange (ifsomewhatmargin-
ally)a finaldealit longsaidwasabso-
lutelynonnegotiableandforseeingan
opportunity that othersdidn’t—inthe
U.K., acrossEurope,andintheU.S.—to
becomenotmoreideologicalina tumul-
tuouseraofuncorkedpopulismbutless
so.Andmorenakedlyopportunistic.
This“lovablebuffoon,”as he’scalled
now byjournalistsandpoliticosas well
asformerLabourvotersturningToryin focusgroupsin theMid-
lands,hasskillfullymaneuveredtowarda fulltermas primemin-
isterandperhapstowardan era in BritishpoliticswhentheCon-
servativePartyis definedlessbyThatcherismthanBorisism.
Throughcompletelackof principle,endlesscharm,andruthless
ambition,he hasmanagedto bringabouta possibilitythat,nottoo
lo ngago,probablyonlyhe allowedhimselfto fantasizeabout:that
hewouldbecomenotjustprimeministerbuta significantone.
Howhashe pulledall thisoff?His criticsarguethathe has
cynicallybecometheBritishTrump,whippingup xenophobia
and uglyracism,lyingwithabandon,andreinventingtheBritish
Torypartyas a hard-rightpopulistenginefor theworstinstincts
ofthedeplorablemasses.He is nowattackedas a racistandreck-
lessLittleEnglander,gleefullywreck-
ingtheBritisheconomy,polarizing
th e country,andthreateningto break
uptheU.K.solelyto advancehis own
narcissisticambitions.Shallow,lazy,
in competent,andbigoted,thisclown
has somehowleveragedthefearsof
th e manyto advancetheonlythinghe
has evergenuinelybelievedin:his
owndestiny.
Butthereis anotherstorytobetold
abouthim:thathehasbeenseriousall
along,usinghishumorandridiculous-
nesstocamouflage politicalinstincts
thathave,infact, beensharperthanhis
peers’.He sensedtheshiftingpopulist
tidesofthe2010sbeforemost other
leadingpoliticiansdidandgraspedthe
Brexitissueasa pathtopower. Buthe
alsounderstoodhowimportantit was
nottobefullycapturedbythat raw
xenophobicenergy. He sawBrexitdis-
content as somethingthe political
Establishmentneededtoengage and
co-optra therthandismissanddemon-
ize,andheapproachedtheopportunity
ina verydifferentway fromhissome-
timeallyNigelFarage,whoseprovincial
extremismveeredintooutrightracism
andwhosepoliticalcareerJohnsonhas
nowallbutended.
Asa longtimeliberalTory,Boris,as
he’s invariablycalledinthepressandby
thepublic,sawthedeepunpopularity of
hisparty’slegacy offiscalausterityand
theneedtoshiftleft ineconomicand
socialpolicy. So heis quietlyforginga
newconservatism—appealingtothe1982:Johnsonat Eton.1986:AtOxford.PHOTOGRAPHS: PREVIOUS SPREAD, STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA IMAGES VIA GETTY IMAGES. THIS SPREAD, RICHARD SHYMANSKY/GILLMAN & SOAMES/NEWS LICENSING (1982); ©DAFYDD JONES (1986); BARCROFT MEDIA/BARCROFT MEDIA VIA GETTY IMAGES (2012); DAN KITWOOD/GETTY IMAGES (2019)It ’s hard to take the Britishprime minister, Boris Johnson,completely seriously.