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What kind of PM will Boris Johnson turn out to be?
Forget about the question of what he will do, just for a minute: here are 5 predictions about what I think will be the style of his Premiership. 1/6
Forget about the question of what he will do, just for a minute: here are 5 predictions about what I think will be the style of his Premiership. 1/6
1. Expect bold populist announcements on smaller issues to pepper the front pages regularly. Both because PM Boris will think he can thereby connect with voters across partisan lines, & as a way of deflecting from ongoing crises (‘Flying flags in schools’, that kind of thing) 2/6
2. Expect disparate parts of his Party, Cabinet & Government to believe he has assured them of totally contradictory things. PM Boris will unite his party & country by supporting all sides in a disagreement. Which you can get away with for a long time, until you can’t anymore 3/6
3. Expect Boris Johnson’s foreign policy to be run by him from no.10. He believes in the domestic political properties of foreign policy, & he can give free reign to oratorical flourishes in remarks about foreign policy that he will try to keep under wraps in domestic policy. 4/6
4. Expect the return with a vengeance of old-style courting of media owners, editors & influential columnists by PM Boris. Breakfasts, phone calls, trades, supporting newspaper campaigns with a PM endorsement, & record numbers of op-eds in the PM’s name. He’ll play the game. 5/6
5. Expect the return of big bust-ups between no.10 & no.11 on questions of tax & spending. PM Boris will over-promise & want to own the “PM who ended austerity” tag. When Treasury says no to him, Boris will ensure the world knows how beancounter-ish they are. Sparks will fly. 6/6
