From our correspondent
London – Boris Johnson now boiled? There are many who have been thinking this for a while: but yesterday was theTimes which has lined up the reasons in a long and detailed reconstruction. Nothing particularly new, actually: these are all things that have been around for a while. But seeing them in a row like this, in a center-right newspaper that defines the premier overburdened, underpaid and with sadness written on his face, is still impressive..
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Also because, as the Guardian, now the conservative press to shoot zero on a prime minister of which in theory it should be a supporter. This week’s cover of Spectator, the very magazine of which Johnson has long been the editor: Where is Boris? Where is Boris? asks the title, which surmounts the drawing of a stormy sea in which you can see a drifting boat occupied by a blonde foreman. It is the description of a premiership that has lost its way and appears at the mercy of events: but apparently the reasons are, more than political, very personal.
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First there is the question of money. A concern that haunts him constantly: Johnson may have become head of the government, but this cost him more than half of his earnings. Previously, he had a € 300,000-a-year contract to write comments on Daily Telegraph, which added to the salary as a parliamentarian and the speeches held here and there brought his income easily over 400 thousand euros. Now, he has to make do with the £ 150,000 (about € 165,000) of his prime minister’s pay: they are not crumbs, but poor Boris has a lot of expenses. The divorce from his wife Marina was very expensive and in addition he has to support the numerous children he has scattered around (six officers and who knows how many unofficial). The Downing Street tenant is not as privileged as those in the White House or the Elysée: the taxman taxes his service apartment, because he considers it a benefit, and moreover he has to pay for the meals that come from the kitchen downstairs. A miserable life, so much so that Johnson and his girlfriend Carrie only have a cleaning lady and couldn’t even hire a babysitter for little Wilfred, their son born this year.
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Then there is health. Those who met Boris recently say that he is not well: he would never have fully recovered from Covid, which saw him end up in intensive care in hospital in April. The spokespersons deny, point out that he put on a diet and exercise, but in reality the premier alternates days of lucidity and activism with others in which he seems confused and forgets the things they say to him: and even his performances in Parliament appear subdued, with Labor often putting him on the ropes in debates.
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Finally, the girlfriend. Not to appear misogynistic, but Carrie has a nice temper: and for a 56-year-old man managing a relationship with a 32-year-old is not a walk in the park. Especially since he had a completely different relationship with his ex-wife Marina: she, a formidable woman of extraordinary intelligence, was his moral and material anchor, the one who organized his life and kept him on track (more or less). With Carrie, things are different (and in addition there’s the five month old baby).
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In short, Boris in pain. He wanted to lead the country along the bright paths of Brexit and is overwhelmed by the worst crisis since the Second World War: they say he feels overwhelmed by the weight of his role, which he had pursued all his life. The problem, this time political, is that in the Conservative Party they are increasingly aware that Boris is not proving to be up to the mission they had entrusted to him: and that a party accustomed to regicides, from Margaret Thatcher to Theresa May. Unless he’s the first to throw in the towel.
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19 September 2020 (change September 19, 2020 | 22:57)
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