The succession

“Who do you expect will succeed ‘Boris’?” is a question you hear from many people who, for reasons best known to themselves, seem to regard Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson as a friend.

“Hmm. I reckon it will be Rishi,” is a frequent reply, meaning Rishi Sunak, the chancer – sorry – chancellor of the exchequer.

This is a classic take on politics, where it becomes all about personality. Johnson rose to the top job by way of his ruthless ambition and creating a posh boy buffoon clown act, which millions bought into, unaccountably in my view. In truth, even his best friends knew Johnson was wholly unsuited to the role of prime minister they supported him anyway because he was a ‘winner’. And so he was, winning the London mayoral election, deciding to support Brexit purely because he thought leave would win, not that he believed in it, but because it best suited his chances of elevation to high office, followed by the landslide election win of 2019. Now that people have woken up to the real Johnson and realised they were being conned by a trickster, some people now laugh at him rather than with him. I feel the same way about him that I always did: he’s a liar, a narcissist, a shyster, a huckster and did I mention a liar? I might have done.

As he enters his final days, weeks or months, our thoughts address the succession. Who’s in the frame? I’d say it’s down to three people:

1. Priti Patel. Unpleasant, vindictive, populist and thick, her agenda, comprising of little more than rhetoric and empty slogans will appeal to people who don’t much think about politics.
2. Liz Truss. A former hardline remainer, Truss has tried to reinvent herself as a hardline leaver, a true believer in a low tax, light touch regulation, small state where people without legs will need to stand on their own two feet.
3. Rishi Sunak. Although his colour (see also Patel), his Indian, Tanzanian and Kenyan heritage may be an issue with older Tory party members, the richest man in British politics has a formidable spin operation. He became popular mainly because he was handing out free money to people during the early stages of Covid. Now, he is on manoeuvres, declining to be in the same city as Johnson, never mind the same room.

So, these are the main runners and riders, although you can’t discount the likes of Dominic ‘Psycho’ Raab. What are the differences between them and Johnson?

The big difference is that unlike Johnson they believe in stuff. Johnson only believes in Johnson and will say and do anything he feels will make him liked. Under him, taxes will soon reach the highest level since World War Two, the government has more than doubled the national debt in its response to Covid and spent vast sums on all manner of projects. Contenders to take the crown believe in the exact opposite.

Patel, Truss and Sunak, in common with much of the Tory parliamentary party, believe in the things Truss now believes in. They want to pare back the state, abolish regulation (like workers rights) and allow so-called free enterprise to run wild. And, as soon as Johnson goes and whoever moves into Downing Street arrives, you can be sure that we will be back to the austerity years we suffered under the Conservative government of 2010, in which the Liberal Democrats took jobs.

In short, Johnson’s successor will be a return to Thatcher’s ‘no such thing as society’, but on stilts.

None of this is to say I want Johnson to stay as PM. In a fair world, he’d be in prison for all the lies he has told over the years. I just fear, just as much, if not more, what will follow. An unequal country, still dealing with a disastrous Brexit deal and a government which continues to pour oil on the flames. If we are in a dangerous place with the spending taps still open, imagine what will happen when and if one of Patel, Truss and Sunak switch them off?

Don’t call Johnson Boris because he is not your friend. Don’t call Patel Priti, or Truss Liz and Sunak Rishi. But however this plays out, things are going to get much, much worse. We don’t need a new Tory leader, we need a new government. And certainly not another Tory one.