Boris Johnson is reported to be stepping up his preparations for a Tory leadership bid as MPs on all sides round on Theresa May.
The prime minister’s insistence on pushing through a fourth version of her Brexit bill has led to growing calls for her to stand down.
And that has seen Johnson once again signalling that he is willing to fill the position when it becomes vacant.
Known for his platinum blond hair, dishevelled style and comic talent, which often lurches into the offensive, Johnson is a political star and the top choice among Tory grass-roots members. “His only obstacle is persuading enough of his fellow Conservative MPs to put him on the shortlist of two,” notes The Economist.
So what kind of PM would he make?
‘Showy’ ideas
Johnson’s eight-year reign as London mayor, from 2008 to 2016, offers some clues to his leadership style.
Few Londoners are likely to have forgotten be the grand launch of his self-service “Boris bikes”, his campaign for a new airport in the Thames estuary – dubbed “Boris Island” – or the image of Johnson stuck on a 20ft-high zipwire while celebrating Team GB’s first gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games.
“Johnson delegated detail to others and allowed a series of very able deputies to do the ‘running’ of London while he did the photo ops,” write politics lecturers Ben Worthy and Mark Bennister in a review of his two terms.
He pursued “showy” ideas, from cable cars to buildings, and “constantly chased spontaneous events and opportunities and made headlines”, they add.
The Daily Telegraph’s Asa Bennett says the Tory MP’s “charisma meant he served as an excellent ambassador for the capital”, though Johnson spent much of his time at City Hall “badgering ministers for more powers” in a struggle to fulfil his mandate of building more homes, keeping taxes low and approving new academies.
‘Multilingual maverick’
After campaigning for Leave in the 2016 EU referendum, Johnson had a stab at succeeding David Cameron, but was instead stabbed in the back by his colleague Michael Gove, and pulled out of the race.
May moved into No. 10 and appointed him foreign secretary, after siphoning off the responsibilities of Brexit and international trade to new departments.
“There was hope that his charm and intelligence could turn into statesmanship” and, at first, “diplomats warmed to this multilingual maverick”, says the BBC’s James Landale.
But Johnson’s “repeated gaffes and inappropriate remarks” frequently set him back, Landale continues. These diplomatic disasters included reciting a colonial-era Kipling poem at a Myanmar temple and mistakenly suggesting that detained Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe had been training journalists in Iran. Johnson also faced an angry backlash after reportedly dismissing corporate fears over Brexit by saying: “F*** business.”
Private sector growth
After two years as foreign secretary, Johnson resigned in protest at May’s Chequers plan and returned to the backbenches, where he has been able to speak more freely – not only in the Commons but also in his Daily Telegraph column and on the fringes of the Conservative Party Conference last year, where he laid out his vision for the country.
He suggested he would prioritise home ownership and fiscal devolution for local councils, giving them incentives to build more houses and encourage more small private builders. He also called for more stop and search for policing, a “properly funded NHS” and a celebration of business.
“We Conservatives know that it is only a strong private sector economy that can pay for superb public services,” Johnson said. “We should set our taxes at the optimum rate to stimulate investment and growth, and we should be constantly aiming not to increase but to cut taxes.”
In addition, he has shown support for the values of One Nation Conservatism, which include defending human rights, active global leadership, conserving the environment and unlocking free enterprise.
And what of Brexit?
Johnson has refused to back May’s latest bill, saying it is “directly against our manifesto”, and looks likely to make an appeal to Tories who have been wooed by Nigel Farage.
However, The Times’ Rachel Sylvester warns: “This is a man who wears his beliefs so lightly that he wrote two articles ahead of the EU referendum, one supporting Leave and the other Remain. There is every reason to assume he will pivot away from the hard Brexit position if it suits him politically.”
