The Economist - USA (2022-01-22)

50 TheEconomistJanuary22nd 2022
Britain

BorisJohnson

The price of survival

B

oris johnson wagged  his  head  in  a

show  of  boredom  and  looked  at  his

watch.  He  jabbed  his  finger  and  slapped

the  despatch  box.  Gone  was  the  man  who

had  sighed,  shuffled  and  looked  at  his

shoes in a television interview the day be­

fore.  He  did  not  give  the  appearance  of  a

prime minister about to be deposed at all,

but one game for an election. 

Fifteen  minutes  before  the  weekly

prime  minister’s  questions  on  January

19th,  a  coup  had  begun.  Christian  Wake­

ford, the Conservative mpfor the marginal

English seat of Bury South, had defected to

the Labour Party, declaring the prime min­

ister incapable of leadership. Little matter,

Mr Johnson boomed: the Tories would win

the  seat  back  at  the  next  election,  “under

this  prime  minister”.  A  few  minutes  later

David Davis, a backbencher first elected to

Parliament  when  Mr  Wakeford  was  just

two  years  old,  read  to  Mr  Johnson  the

words  of  Leo  Amery  to  Neville  Chamber­

lain, the prime minister in 1940. “You have

sat  too  long  here  for  any  good  you  have

been  doing...In  the  name  of  God,  go.”  A

smile flickered across Mr Johnson’s lips. 

Over the past six weeks revelations

about parties in Downing Street during

England’scovid­19lockdownshavepushed

MrJohnson’sadministrationtothebrink

ofcollapse.Thedetailsseemdesignedto

offend: one raucous gatheringwas held

duringa periodofnationalmourningfor

theDukeofEdinburgh,promptinganapol­

ogytoBuckinghamPalace.Torymps decid­

edtoact.Somehavesubmittedlettersofno

confidenceinMrJohnson,seekingtotrig­

gera leadershipballot.

As The Economist went to press, Mr

Johnsonwashangingon.Noothermps had

followedMrWakefordacrossthefloor,nor

hadthethresholdof 54 lettersrequiredto

triggera contestbeenreached.(Lettersare

sentanonymouslyandtherunningtallyis

asecret,encouragingbluffandrumour­

mongering.) Mr Johnson’s staff said he

wouldfightanyleadershipballot,inwhich

hewouldneedthesupportofhalftheparty

towin.Judgingbytheroarsonthebenches

behindhim,hehas agoodchance. The

plotters disagree over whento oustMr

Johnsonandhavenoobviouscandidateor

policyagendatorallyaround.

Butif MrJohnsonsurvives,hewillhave

paida highprice.Fromthebeginning,his

governmentsoughttobanishmemoriesof

TheresaMay’senfeebledpremiership.The

cabinet was packed with loyalists who

barkedsloganswrittenbyhisoffice.Parlia­

ment,filledaftertheelectionof 2019 with

youngmpslike MrWakefordwhoowed

theirjobstoMrJohnson,wouldbeakintoa

printerfortheexecutive.WhentheCon­

servativeswontheconstituencyofHartle­

pool,a poortowninnorth­eastEngland,in

a by­electioninMay 2021 MrJohnson’sal­

liesboastedhewouldgovernfora decade.

Allthathas crumbled.“The imperial

premiership is over,” declares a former

cabinetminister.LikeMrsMay,MrJohn­

sonwillbea caretakerprimeminister,di­

minishedinacabinetpreoccupiedwith

Boris Johnson may cling to office, but hispremiershiphasbeenbroken

→Alsointhissection

52 Bagehot:Boris’snaughtychildren

Blues fell this morning

Britain, voting intention, %

Sources:BMG;Deltapoll; Ipsos MORI; Kantar; NCP; Opinium;

RedfieldandWilton; Savanta ComRes; Survation; YouGov

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

2020 21 22

Conservative

Labour

Liberal Democrat

— Read more at: Economist.com/Britain