Boris Johnson, so the joke goes, will always be remembered as the third prime minister to have been brought down by… Boris Johnson.
After bringing down his old rival David Cameron by campaigning for Brexit, and then helping to bring down Theresa May by campaigning against her soft Brexit, Johnson then set the stage for his own exit by presiding over the Partygate scandal.
And now, on Friday night, that scandal culminated in Boris Johnson essentially jumping out of Westminster before he could be pushed —choosing to resign as an MP before the findings of the Commons Privileges Committee, which has been investigating whether he misled parliament, are published.
It’s certainly a calculated move —an exit designed to give him a way back into politics should he need one in the future. And it’s classic Boris.
With one eye on his future after a likely Conservative defeat in 2024, and the other on settling scores with his enemies, his resignation letter pulls no punches.
He also clings to the same populist style which ran through his Brexit and 2019 campaigns —contrasting a tiny cabal in Westminster with the apparently gushing, adoring, pro-Boris masses out there in the country who are just sitting around, waiting for him to lead them once again to the sunlit uplands.
The fact Johnson is now deeply unpopular across the country, including among a very large number of Brexit voters is, of course, conveniently ignored.
And so too is much else.
I’ve absolutely no doubt Johnson’s resignation is about setting the stage for yet another run at the Tory leadership in the mid-to-late 2020s. God help us.
And nor would I be surprised —at all— if he also has one eye on setting up a new populist movement which rails against the very things he targeted on Friday night —a corrupt Westminster, a broken duopoly, and a ruling class that’s out-of-touch.
Many voters would flock to this kind of message. And some of his criticisms of the dire state of British politics, the system, and the ruling class are certainly valid.
But the idea Boris Johnson represents the answer to these challenges, represents the future of conservatism, is totally absurd.
While Johnson will be thanked by many for ensuring Brexit Got Done, for pushing it over the line against a resistant new elite, I for one think both his party and the country would now best be served by closing this chapter.
It’s time to move on.
* This is an edited version of an essay that can be read in full at mattgoodwin.substack.com
