JULY 14, 2019 • THE WEEK 21AFP
speaking assignments.
In 2001, Johnson got elected to the
House of Commons from Henley,
a safe Conservative seat. Seven
years later, he once again displayed
enough ideological flexibility to
become the mayor of London, a
Labour stronghold. The Labour
nominee was the sitting mayor, Ken
Livingstone. Johnson served two
moderately successful four-year
terms at the City Hall.
After losing his Brexit campaign,
Cameron quit as prime minister,
making Johnson the most obvious
successor. But he suddenly looked
unprepared and indecisive. A day
after the Brexit verdict, according to
an article which appeared in The New
Yorker, Johnson went to the coun-
tryside to play cricket with the ninth
Earl of Spencer. Soon, justice secre-
tary Michael Gove, who was chairing
Johnson’s leadership campaign, quit,
and entered the race himself. In the
ensuing confusion, Conservatives
chose Theresa May as the new leader.
After a disastrous campaign to imple-
ment Brexit, May was forced to quit
last month, leaving Johnson with his
best chance to head the government.
Johnson’s second shot at premier-ing that Johnson
chucked the rever-
ential tone of the
traditional EU cov-
erage and would
file outrageous,
yet interesting
stories. He wrote
about the EU
trying to regulate
everything from
the size of con-
doms to the smell of
manure. Pascal Lamy,
who was the head of the
World Trade Organisation,
was then chief adviser to Europe-
an Commission president Jacques
Delors. He recently told the Financial
Times that Johnson “did what people
30 years later would call fake news....
He was a precursor.” But the stories
brought him recognition, especially
from the right wing of the Conserv-
ative Party, and helped him launch
his political career. Critics call him
a shoddy journalist, but even they
credit him for his incredible writing
skills and oratorical gift. No wonder,
the Telegraph pays him £2,75,000
a year for his weekly column. He
earned another £4,00,000 last year onJohnson has not
explained how he can
secure amendments to
the Brexit deal, given
the unwillingness of
the EU and the lack of
time to achieve that by
October.
—Timothy Heppell
Associate professor of British politics,
University of Leeds