Boris Johnson: A Charlatans Legacy

It’s finally happened: British politics no longer has an elected Boris Johnson in its parliament. His resignation, fresh off the press, comes after he received the findings of the privileges committees investigation into Partygate.

The findings should come as no surprise to the man himself (despite not yet being known to the public), so the very fact that he has waited until now to resign is telling of one constant through his political career: the fact he truly thought he could slither his way out of yet another scandal. The details of these findings (as well as the honours he’s bestowed to his crooked colleagues) will be addressed in a separate article but, for now, let us not forget the actions of a man who designed and built a graveyard for hundreds of thousands on the soil of broken promises and his Etonian ego.

While carers worked double shifts, family members waited beside a telephone rather than a bedside to see if their loved ones would survive, and we all went for months without seeing our closest friends, Johnson gleefully disregarded his own rules. Wine parades, garden parties: these actions, in the midst of a pandemic, show nothing but the highest level of contempt for the millions across the country following his simple decree: ‘you must stay home’.

His careerist sense of untouchability and entitlement have finally led to him being removed as both PM and now an MP, but what consolation is this to the countless dead victims of his slow lockdown? What consolation is it to the carer who had to watch another John Doe perish? What consolation is it to the millions who lived in frightening solitude? What consolation is it to the family who visited a foodbank this evening, all while his government oversaw further cuts to vital public services and did nothing to quell a catastrophic cost of living crisis? What consolation is it to the people waiting months to see a doctor, those who he galvanized into thinking the NHS would get £350 Million per week if we left the EU? What consolation is it to that same NHS, watching the foundations of the once strong beating heart of Britain crumble? Where is the consolation for them?

His actions, and in many cases lack thereof, will ripple and permeate the lives of so many long after the dust as settled on the career of this lifelong charlatan. Rather than consolation, the political career of Boris Johnson is a vital lesson as to what occurs when credence is granted to the personality of an egotistical, self-important fraud.

Boris Johnson orchestrated the destruction of lives, trust in politics, and granted legitimacy to lies. He will not be missed, and we, as a nation, must do so much better. His heart is the heart of a Conservative politician: one of hang the world if my pockets are lined. He is merely one abscess on a larger tumour that must be rooted out of the soul of Britain. They all need to go.