“I have sought counsel from those I can trust to blow smoke up my arse. That, with weighted arguments & my own sense of self-importance, leads me to conclude that I should throw my hat in the ring & stand for the leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party”
So tweeted Mark Jenkinson, MP for Workington.
No, I have never heard of him either.
Jenkinson is not standing for leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party. His funny bone might be intact but his judgement certainly isn’t. He was one of the few remaining die-hard cultists of Johnsonism.
Watching Johnson’s resignation speech, I was struck by the continued lack of awareness. This man was born with a sense of entitlement. A disruptor certainly. But he was also the protector of the establishment. Not as paternalistic or benevolent as those who went before him but equally an heir.
He glossed over his smugness with humour and faux bonhomie. Ultimately Johnson was a failure. His legacy is a fractured nation, frosty international relations, a disastrous Brexit and pernicious politics. In addition, he ruined the bond of trust between a government and people.
It was more than ironic that as Johnson lauded himself, only days before the doyen of the Tory media, The Times, had a magazine cover titled ‘Food Bank Nation’. So much for taking back control.
Brexit got done but the British people got done over.
The article revealed there are now twice as many food banks in the UK than McDonald’s restaurants.
The detail in the magazine is devastating. Over 4 per cent of UK citizens have used a food bank in the past 12 months. Nearly 10 million say they went without food or ate less, according to the Food Standards Agency.
And in Johnson’s Britain there is not even enough generosity to go around as donations to food banks have dropped by 50 per cent, as those who once could give a little have nothing left to give.
But more startling is that these dire statistics are provided from the government’s own agencies.
And what about the lace-curtain poor? Those too proud to seek help? They languish in poverty, not even making up the official statistics.
Johnson’s post-dated resignation will spare him the ignominy of being in office as the Covid inquiry begins. Of course, the inquiry won’t be looking at the cavalier disregard the prime minister and his office had for the pandemic rules which they put in place. Those rules were for the little people – not the privileged few who could quaff wine and cheese at all-night parties in Number 10.
Those acolytes standing outside Number 10 as Johnson gave his own valedictory were like performing seals clapping enthusiastically when thrown a kipper.
Johnson deserves no pity for his demise. He put the cannibalistic tendencies of the Tory party to good use when he undermined Theresa May’s premiership. It seems rather fitting the same cabal of Conservative carnivores decided it was time to feast on him. The dying days of the Johnson reich was like reading the gory scenes from William Golding’s Lord of the Flies.
Johnson was right that he was finally bought down by “the herd”. Unfortunately he caused their stampede.
Allowing Johnson to remain as a caretaker prime minister is fraught with political danger for the Tories. This man is known for holding grudges. Just look at how he needlessly fired Michael Gove. Plus the prime minister finds it impossible to give his larynx a rest.
Those in Northern Ireland or Ireland looking hopefully towards Johnson’s successor will be bitterly disappointed. There could be worse to follow.
Perhaps Johnson should reflect on the words of the ambitious but ill-fated Macbeth: “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage. And then is heard no more… it’s a tale full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”.
