Is Boris Johnson unsackable? British PM Theresa May dodges the question at Tory conference
Foreign minister Johnson, with his ongoing provocations, could be positioning himself as a future ‘Brexit martyr’ on the backbenches
Less than a year ago, UK Prime Minister Theresa May compared one-time leadership contender Boris Johnson to a dog who was put to sleep “when its master decided it wasn’t needed any more”. That was when she was at the height of her powers.
On Sunday, after her foreign secretary yet again set out an independent course on Brexit, a weakened May could only laugh and dodge the question when asked if he was “unsackable”. It’s the second time in two weeks that she’s been put on the spot by her errant top diplomat – but this time it coincides with the Conservative Party’s annual conference in the city of Manchester.
Rahman went on to say that even if she doesn’t fire him, “he might resign anyway, calculating that his prospects of succeeding May will be enhanced if he can champion a clean break from the EU.” Either way, the situation is seen as increasingly untenable.
May has stabilised her position in the months since the election, but don’t be fooled: the memorable description of her as a “dead woman walking’’ still applies. The prime minister says she’ll run for re-election but there is no appetite for that scenario, not among Tory lawmakers or even party members.
But crucially there is also little desire for another change of guard. Graham Brady, a senior Tory lawmaker who speaks for the rank-and-file, was asked about Johnson in a BBC interview and he was unequivocal in saying there was no “demand for a debate about the future leadership of the party.”
Known for his gaffes and mop of messy blond hair, Johnson is a perpetual candidate for the Tory leadership, though he’s flunked his two opportunities to run. He’s so well-known that back in the UK he’s simply known as Boris, and behind his public buffoonery he has keen political instincts. He was the face of the successful campaign to leave the EU back in 2016.
Video released at the weekend that showed Britain’s ambassador to Myanmar having to restrain the foreign secretary from reciting a potentially offensive poem while visiting a Buddhist temple again highlighted Johnson’s weaknesses as a candidate. Whether voters care about his blunders is another matter, as Donald Trump’s rise to power has shown.
If his interventions over the past month have achieved nothing else, they demonstrate he has the kind of star power no one else in the cabinet, including May, can match.
