Boris marks 12 months in power

‘HELL OF A YEAR’: JOHNSON’S TOUGHEST TEST AHEAD

Post-Brexit trade deal still mission unaccomplished.

Electoral success, Brexit, a global health crisis that could have killed him, divorce, engagement and even a new baby. Boris Johnson has had an eventful 12 months in anyone’s book.

Johnson, 56, marked his first anniversary as Britain’s prime minister yesterday after what one lawmaker described to the Guardian as a “hell of a year”.

In A YouGov poll published on Thursday, 89% of Conservative party members said he should remain leader. But his toughest test could yet be to come, as the full impact of the coronavirus outbreak bites on the UK economy.

Experts, too, are warning of a devastating second wave of infection in the winter, which could amplify criticism of his government’s handling of the first.

Concern is also growing about whether he can secure a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union. He also faces a resurgent Labour party, growing strength of Scottish nationalists and dissent from colleagues about centralised governance.

But Johnson sounds undeterred. In a statement marking his one year in office, he said: “I will not let the virus hold this country back.”

This time last year, he quit as foreign secretary. But he won a Conservative leadership campaign when Theresa May’s inability to force her Brexit agreement through parliament caused her resignation.

Almost immediately, he illegally suspended parliament to try to push through his own Brexit deal before a 31 October deadline. He lost that battle, but then called a December election and secured the biggest parliamentary majority since the heyday of Margaret Thatcher, paving the way for Britain’s departure from the EU on 31 January. But his vow of a “new beginning”was soon derailed by the virus crisis.

Supporters say he has a skill for delegation and a steely resolve. “He is colourful [but] with a strategic vision,” French President Emmanuel Macron said last year.

Critics, though, say he lacks attention to detail and his ungrounded optimism is ill-suited to the times. New Labour leader Keir Starmer’s probing approach has occasionally left Johnson exposed. And there are indications of Tory dissent, in particular over the power given to his most trusted aide, Dominic Cummings.

That and assured performances from his chancellor, Rishi Sunak, could make life more difficult for Johnson as he enters his second year. – AFP