Johannesburg - The war-mongering British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is finally on the ropes, and by all accounts he can no longer beat the count.
He ascended to power in 2019 amid much fanfare.
His stock had risen in the wake of his role as a protagonist in the Brexit movement.
He took over the reign at Number 10 Downing Street in the aftermath of the resignation of his predecessor, Teressa May, as Conservative Party leader on July 24, 2019, a day after Johnson had won the leadership election.
Once he had led the Conservative Party to a resounding victory in 2019 general elections, Johnson became his own man, basking in the glory of the historic endorsement of the British electorate.
In the early days of his premiership Johnson’s popularity was sky high. The former journalist-turned-politician had brought to British politics raw posture and renewed belief in politics that what you see is what you get.
In the same vein, the electorate thought - perhaps prematurely - that finally, an honest politician in Johnson had arrived.
But, plagued by one scandal after the other, Johnson’s just less than three years residence in the famous Number 10 can best be summed up as follows: He came, he saw, he squandered.
Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the official opposition Labour Party, said the following after Johnson’s much-anticipated resignation: “It is good news for the country that Boris Johnson has resigned as Prime minister. But it should have happened long ago. He was always unfit for office. He has been responsible for lies, scandal and fraud on an industrial scale.”
When Johnson’s stock declined in the wake of the great betrayal of the electorate, characterised by secret parties inside Number 10 at the height of Covid-19 restrictions that limited freedom of movement and curtailed civil liberties, Johnson and his inner circle began to clutch at straws with a monotonous regularity.
And as the Partygate scandal continued to simmer, even the most ardent Tory supporter was left baffled. The dismay and disbelief at the brazen subversion of the will of the people plunged public confidence in politics and in Johnson himself into the lowest depths.
Johnson spewed one lie after the other in a desperate attempt to absolve himself from blame. He failed, dismally. The facts threw him under the bus. His Conservative Party colleagues, one after the other, let their actions speak louder than words as they tendered their resignations in a flurry. Within two days, 39 Conservative MP’s had deserted Johnson. Nay, they turned on Johnson! The emperor, sensing that he was becoming naked, announced that he was stepping down from his leadership role of the party.
But he elected to stay on, until the ruling party elects a new leader who would swiftly take over as the new Prime Minister.
As things stand Johnson is not a dead man walking. Neither is he a lame duck. Methinks he’s worse than both. His fall from grace has been spectacular.
In his resignation announcement he seemed to remember the day a resounding majority catapulted him into office, saying: “I want to say to the millions of people who voted for us in 2019, many of them voting Conservative for the first time: ‘Thank you for that incredible mandate, the biggest Conservative majority since 1987, the biggest share of the vote since 1979.”
He attempted to cling on to power by focussing attention on foreign policy rather than domestic issues such as displeasure in the NHS.
Russophobia became his chosen focus. The deep anti-Russian sentiment that has risen drastically across Europe since the Ukraine conflict in February became Johnson’s stock-in-trade.
No wonder a short statement from Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, in the wake of Johnson’s departure read: “He doesn’t like us, we don’t like him either.”
Johnson lambasted Russian President Vladimir Putin in adjectives that are a dream for headline writers. Like no other European leader, Johnson made several unannounced visits to Kyiv to prop up the beleaguered Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Boisterous and gung-ho, Johnson spat venom in the streets of Kyiv, pledging British financial and military support to Ukraine as he condemned the Kremlin as the devil reincarnated.
But that attempt to shift focus did not work as planned. Back home opposition law-makers chastised him about numerous miscalculations of his own doing.
He ducked and dived. But as sharpened knives appeared from within his ranks, Johnson knew his time was up. A British Prime Minister who is shown the door by their own colleagues is nothing new in London.
Tony Blair left ingloriously. Teressa May left office unceremoniously. Johnson was not about to leave Number 10 kicking and screaming. It’s not a British norm. Once the writing is on the wall, the incumbent packs their bags and does the honourable thing – resign and leave.
Hence Johnson’s announcement this week when he said: “It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of that party and therefore a new prime minister…”
I shed no tears for Johnson’s fall from grace. Although initially coming across as erudite and accommodative, time soon exposed him for who he truly was – a quack. What you saw in him wasn’t what one would get. Johnson the extreme pretender, the schemer, had thought his unconventional political nature would prolong his stay in office. But shy of three years in office, the British law-makers reached a consensus that their Prime Minister had overstayed his welcome.
A senior Conservative lawmaker commented after Johnson’s announcement to quit, saying: “Relief basically. And also sadness at a missed opportunity. A man destroyed by his own fundamental flaws.”
Johnson’s recent diabolical legislation to outsource his government’s responsibility to assist asylum seekers who reach their door-step should haunt him long after he’s quit public office.
A loud-mouth when it comes to encouraging Ukrainian refugees to seek asylum, Johnson’s government struck a curious bilateral deal with the small Eastern African country of Rwanda to house unwanted refugees caught entering Britain.
Details of Rwanda’s material benefit from the deal remain sketchy.
However, unwanted refugees in Britain would invariably be those from war-torn countries such as Syria, Yemen, Libya, Sudan and many such places.
The subtle racism in the new refugee act is unmistakable. Adieus, Boris.