King at last Now for the hard part
Boris Johnson became Britain’s 55th prime minister this week, after winning a convincing victory in the Tory leadership race. The former London mayor won the votes of 92,153 members of the Conservative Party, almost twice as many as his rival, Jeremy Hunt. “We are going to get Brexit done on 31 October and take advantage of all the opportunities it will bring in a new spirit of ‘can do’,” declared Johnson after the result was announced. “Like some slumbering giant, we are going to rise and ping off the guy ropes of self-doubt and negativity.”
President Trump tweeted his congratulations, adding: “He will be great!”. The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier said he also looked forward to working with Johnson, “to facilitate the ratification of the withdrawal agreement and achieve an orderly Brexit”. Several ministers, led by the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, quit before Johnson took office, making clear their opposition to the new PM’s willingness, if necessary, to lead the UK out of the EU without a deal. Hammond suggested he would vote to bring down the Government in a vote of no-confidence were such a move to be attempted.
What the editorials said
What with the Brexit crisis and the stand-off with Iran, Johnson faces a graver set of circumstances than has confronted any new PM since the Second World War, said The Observer. And it’s hard to think of a politician less qualified for the task. Last week, he once again exhibited his “casual disregard for the truth” by brandishing a kipper at a hustings event, claiming that pesky EU rules now force producers to send such goods packed in ice. In fact, these rules were set by Britain. Johnson helped lure Britain into “the minefield of Brexit” by spinning tales like this, said the FT. It now falls to him to plot a path out. If he fails, it could destroy his party; at worst, “he could become the last prime minister of the United Kingdom”.
Johnson’s flaws are well known, said the Daily Mail, but after three years of “dreary stasis” under Theresa May, he may be just the leader we need to “untie the Brexit knot”. He’s bold and engaging, and “generates excitement”. But he’ll need the full support of his party to prevail. Alas, senior Tories opposed to a no-deal exit seem intent on fighting a “fierce rearguard action”, said The Daily Telegraph. Why can’t they see that undermining Johnson’s position only makes no deal more likely?
What the commentators said
The scale of Johnson’s victory over Hunt will have delighted his team, said Patrick Maguire in the New Statesman. It’s an emphatic endorsement from the grass roots that gives him a mandate not just to lead, but to build a government and cabinet on his terms. For Johnson, who talked as a boy of wanting to be “world king” and has lusted after the job of PM for years, this must be a sweet moment, said Andrew Rawnsley in The Observer. But wanting a job is very different from doing it. “Tony Blair, a highly accomplished leader of the opposition before he moved into Downing Street, once told me that he didn’t really get the hang of it for four years, and he had the shock absorber of a landslide majority while he was learning on the job.”
That’s not a luxury Johnson enjoys, said Katy Balls in the I newspaper. The Tories have a working majority – which relies on the backing of the DUP’s ten MPs – of just three, and this could fall to two next week if they lose the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election. To deliver Brexit in the next 100 days, with this slender majority, “negotiating with an unresponsive Brussels”, is a tall order indeed. Particularly as Johnson’s own team still seems split over its aims, said Rachel Sylvester in The Times. One camp, led by Geoffrey Cox, the Attorney General, thinks it’s still possible to get a tweaked version of May’s deal through Parliament. Another, which includes Iain Duncan Smith, wants “to prepare unambiguously for a no-deal Brexit”. Johnson’s position is unclear. He has promised to deliver Brexit on 31 October, “do or die”, yet also claimed there was a “million-to-one” chance of a no-deal exit. “Both cannot be true.”
Johnson won’t be able to govern without a decent majority, said Philip Johnston in The Daily Telegraph. He should strike now and call a snap election. By doing so, he “would neutralise the betrayal narrative that Nigel Farage is waiting to deploy against him when he fails to leave by 31 October, as he will if he lets this paralysed Parliament dictate his premiership”. He would also catch Labour on the hop, forcing it to compete with the Remain-backing Lib Dems under their new leader. Such a strategy would be “fraught with risks”, but it’s Johnson’s best bet.
What next?
In his first Cabinet appointment, Johnson has appointed Mark Spencer, a well-regarded senior whip who voted Remain, as his Chief Whip. Hunt’s supporters welcomed the appointment as a sign that Johnson was prepared to reach out across the party.
Brussels is preparing to offer Johnson a Brexit extension beyond Halloween, reports The Guardian. To spare his blushes, the extra period would be described as a “technical delay”. EU leaders apparently believe that a no-deal Brexit has become less likely. This follows a Commons vote last week, won by no-deal opponents, that could prevent Johnson bypassing MPs by suspending Parliament ( see page 13).