The Fall of Boris Johnson: The Full Story

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It’s not a targeted job, but it does dispel Boris’s followers’ claims that it was all a “witch hunt” (now where have I heard that phrase before?) Imagine another world in which neither of these two books could have been written. Jeremy Hunt becomes prime minister in 2019. He takes a moderated version of Brexit through the House of Commons without the need to seek another mandate. There is no general election in 2019 and therefore no acceleration of the Labour recovery. In May 2022 Hunt beats Jeremy Corbyn comfortably in a general election and, six months later, he looks on as his chancellor, Rishi Sunak, delivers the Autumn Statement. Across the dispatch box the fledgling leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, contemplates the years ahead.

Payne's account reads well but it tells us nothing followers of the story did not already know. Indeed it is more "revelatory" about the workings of the Westminster lobby than of its subject. This might have been award winning but it is certainly not, as the blurb claims, "explosive" nor is it, by any means "the full story." With unparalleled access to those who were in the room when key decisions were made, Payne tells of the miscalculations and mistakes that led to Boris’s downfall. This is a gripping and timely look at how power is gained, wielded and lost in Britain today. In a now-notorious 2012 pamphlet “ Britannia Unchained: Global Lessons for Growth and Prosperity:,” Liz Truss and four other MPs elected in 2010 suggested that “the British are among the worst idlers in the world. We work among the lowest hours, we retire early and our productivity is poor.”A spokesperson for News UK, Murdoch’s British publishing company, declined to comment, while a Johnson spokesperson said he did not recognise the account. Boris Johnson was touted as the saviour of the country and the Conservative Party, obtaining a huge commons majority and finally 'getting Brexit done'. But, within three short years, he was deposed in disgrace and left the country in crisis. An entertaining description of the politically chaotic times the UK found itself in during 2022. The reader gains an insight into Boris’s mindset and approach - whether you agree with him and his followers or not, it’s an essential read to try and understand just how much we have moved away from the traditional political practices of the past. the public nature of Sunak’s willingness to hold Boris at arm’s length was different from that of other future rivals

In the end, Sunak made the eye-catching move of drafting a full resignation statement. The words were shared with Lord Hague, the former Tory leader and a Times columnist, who had preceded Sunak as MP for Richmond. Soon, with more people at the company also having separately found out about the draft statement, whispers of the dramatic move were spreading among senior figures at Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper. Wilson makes his observation over lunch with Payne in his local pub. Their conversation is one of countless enlightening discussions in the book, which take place amid various levels of Covid restrictions in art galleries, pubs, cafes and community centres. Payne’s passion and personal engagement with his subject seems to charm many of his interviewees into opening up in fascinating ways. Labour’s crisis in the red wall, and the party’s attempts to resolve it, will shape the future of English politics. This engrossing, warm and insightful work is an indispensable guide to how it came about. Boris Johnson was touted as the saviour of the country and the Conservative Party, obtaining a huge commons majority and finally "getting Brexit done". But within three short years, he was deposed in disgrace, leaving the country in crisis. Did the problem run deeper? Johnson’s shape-shifting as he climbed the political ladder led some to question whether he knew what he wanted to achieve with high office. In his university days, he ran twice to be Oxford Union president, the first time displaying Tory views (and losing), and a second time aligning himself with the Social Democratic Party. That time around he won. Then, as mayor of Labour-voting London, Johnson projected a liberal vision, advocating an amnesty for illegal migrants and championing gay marriage. But as chief Brexiteer, he threw in his lot with the Tory Right. To critics, the clearest thread running through Johnson’s stances was saying what was needed to advance.In the end, neither of these books is able to escape the limitations of the genre. Political reporting has become a discourse in which civil servants are always “shadowy” and reporters are always “tenacious”. Good politicians are always “the best of their generation” and bad politicians are always “defenestrated”. Everyone in these books departs office by the window. The question they leave is not about Johnson or Truss but about the broken relationship between politics and journalism. The Fall of Boris Johnson is the explosive inside account of how a prime minister lost his hold on power. From Sebastian Payne, former Whitehall Editor for the Financial Times and author of Broken Heartlands. Stephen Coleman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Partners