The silence from the Conservative backbenches yesterday as Boris Johnson attempted to contain the damage from an inquiry into parties at Downing Street was a telling demonstration of the gravity of the British prime minister’s problems. Conservative MPs have stood by Johnson in the face of ample evidence of his inadequacy as head of government, convinced as they are that he is still the best person to help them retain their seats. But their loyalty goes no deeper than that, leaving him perpetually vulnerable.
In a healthy political system, where leaders were held to account for their failures, the senior civil servant Sue Gray’s damning report into the partying culture at Johnson’s Downing Street would leave him in an untenable position. It chronicles in detail how not once but on eight separate occasions, in breach of national public health restrictions, the very office responsible for imposing those restrictions flouted them by holding parties. At these gatherings, officials drank so much they were sick, sang karaoke, became involved in altercations and abused security and cleaning staff. Meanwhile, members of the British public were unable to go to the funerals of loved ones, visit their families or say goodbye to relatives dying of Covid-19.
What happened at Downing Street on Johnson’s watch showed almost incomprehensible levels of insensitivity and arrogance. The prime minister, who initially said none of these parties broke any rules, now accepts that that was not true. His defence in the House of Commons yesterday alternated between humility and hubris. He took “full responsibility” for what happened, but then proceeded to distance himself from those events, to downplay them (his office only partied on eight days out of 600, he said) and to make clear he would dig in and reject calls to resign.
But digging in does not make Johnson’s position any more secure. With Britain possibly heading for recession, inflation rising rapidly and public tolerance of his tired routine wearing thin, Johnson’s future looks more uncertain than ever.