U.K. in shock as Johnson drops leadership bid
LONDON — In a reallife political drama mixing Shakespearean tragedy with “House of Cards,” Britain’s victorious anti-EU campaigner Boris Johnson saw his chances of leading his country evaporate Thursday after the defection of a key ally.
The former London mayor dropped his campaign to become Conservative Party leader and prime minister after Justice Secretary Michael Gove abruptly withdrew his support for Johnson and announced he would run himself.
Johnson, a prominent campaigner for Britain’s withdrawal from the 28-nation European Union, told a news conference where he was expected to announce his candidacy that the next Conservative leader would need to unite the party and ensure Britain’s standing in the world.
“Having consulted colleagues and in view of the circumstances in Parliament, I have concluded that person cannot be me,” he said to the astonishment of gathered journalists and supporters.
Johnson paraphrased Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” saying it was “a time not to fight against the tide of history but to take that tide at the flood and sail on to fortune.” It appeared to be a dig at Gove — the reference is to a line spoken by Brutus, the Roman leader’s ally turned assassin.
Others drew a more contemporary parallel.
“It makes ‘House of Cards’ look like ‘Teletubbies,’” Conservative lawmaker Nigel Evans told the BBC.
Johnson’s departure makes Gove and Home Secretary Theresa May the favorites among five contenders to lead the Conservatives.
It is an unexpected twist in a career that has seen the 52-year-old Johnson serve as journalist, lawmaker and mayor, building a public profile on Latin quips, cycling and rumpled eccentricity while nurturing a poorly concealed ambition to lead his country.
Johnson’s decision to break with longtime ally Prime Minister David Cameron and back the “leave” side in Britain’s EU referendum seemed to have paid off when Cameron announced he would resign after last week’s vote in favor of exiting the bloc.
Cameron’s announcement triggered a Conservative leadership race in which Johnson was expected be a front-runner, with Gove as his campaign manager.
The two men had campaigned together to yank Britain from the EU. But since their unexpected victory, they have been accused of failing to lay out concrete plans for Britain’s divorce from the EU.
Johnson addressed the issue in a Daily Telegraph column that seemed to say Britain would continue to enjoy most of the benefits of EU membership — a claim dismissed by European leaders as wildly unrealistic. That fueled concern among Conservatives who felt Johnson lacks the attention to detail to be a leader.