The tonic for Boris Johnson’s ailing leadership may well be boring politics, not Churchillian
Boris Johnson’s Churchillian love affair is well documented. But facing increasing pressure over his future, the Prime Minister must resist his idol’s playbook for how to govern. When penning a biography of Britain’s wartime hero in 2014, the canny PM knew this would draw instant comparisons between him and the man voted the “greatest Briton”.
From leading Britain through its greatest challenge since World War II in the form of the pandemic, to taking a leading role in supporting the Ukrainian effort in the face of Russian aggression, thus becoming a wartime leader himself, the similarities do indeed exist. But does the electorate really want another Churchill?
The last few years have been tumultuous. For my generation, it’s hard to remember a more turbulent time in British, and global, politics. A pandemic, war in Europe, Brexit, unexpected elections, technological transformation. These have been the ingredients of mass disruption at home and abroad.
After the relative stability of the New Labour years (barring the significant exemptions of Iraq and the global financial crisis, of course), perhaps we look back to Margaret Thatcher’s time as PM for the last time we saw upheaval of this scale and relentless volume. Swap a crippling pandemic for crippling strikes, war in Europe for war in the South Atlantic, unexpected elections for deep political tensions and we begin to see a familiar picture emerging. By the end of Thatcher’s rollercoaster decade in power, the public could be forgiven for wanting to get off.
Their respite came in the form of John Major. Characterised by Spitting Image as a comically dull and boring leader, it’s hard to argue that representation was particularly unfair. Despite leading the country for nearly seven years, not much happened under Major. Maastricht negotiations and Black Wednesday were rare glimmers of action under “Honest John”, as he was dubbed by sections of the British press. Even the fruitiness in his love life only came to bear following his exit from Parliament in 2001.
Despite his crushing defeat to Tony Blair, which felt inevitable after nearly 20 years of Tory rule, let’s not forget that John Major led the Tories to picking up over 14 million votes in the 1992 General Election – a record for any British political party, even to this day. His perceived “boringness” was a popular tonic to the tumultuous and divisive tenure of Thatcher.
Across the Pond, we see a more recent example of voters begging for relief from constant drama. Joe Biden’s pledge to make politics boring again saw him defeat Donald Trump after four action-packed years of perhaps the most unconventional President we’ll ever see.
Maybe for Johnson to save his ailing premiership, he needs to be more boring. There’s certainly an argument for it. These serious times call for serious leadership – and in Boris, we have a good time PM who, in the eyes of voters, belongs dangling from a zipwire waving union jacks more than he does going toe-to-toe with deadly dictators and resuscitating an economy on the edge of collapse.
That’s not to say Johnson isn’t capable of being a serious politician. He is. In 2011, he won praise for his measured response to the London riots when he was Mayor. During the pandemic, Britain was one of the first out of the traps with the vaccine roll-out. And now, Johnson is deemed a hero in some quarters of Ukraine due to his support for their war effort. But in the eyes of the British public, Johnson does not cut a sombre leader ready to lead Britain through its current challenges. Perhaps worryingly, Keir Starmer does.
Starmer is often criticised for being too analytical, too pondering, too boring. But at this juncture in Britain’s history, these may be the winning attributes as the country looks to move on for the whirlwind of instability over the last few years.
If Johnson is serious about rejuvenating his leadership and winning the next election, he must resist his instincts that have gotten him this far. Stop the pithy quips at PMQs, revert to his neater 2019 leadership haircut, straighten his tie, and embrace drab politics. Britain needs a break and if the Prime Minister can’t give them that, voters may seek to find it from elsewhere.