A worrying number of MPs are backing Boris Johnson mainly because others are
BORIS JOHNSON has been seducing people again. For months he has methodically worked his way down a list of fellow Conservative MPs, sweet-talking them to back his campaign to be leader. Phone calls with potential conquests have been set up. Drinks parties are arranged for others who want to experience Mr Johnson’s charms in person. If that is not enough, a dinner might persuade a reluctant MP. Former sceptics have been swept off their feet.
A second group see Mr Johnson as a means for their own rehabilitation. Many of the people running his operation have seen their political careers blown off course in recent years. James Wharton, Mr Johnson’s “No” man, in charge of batting away distractions, lost his seat in the snap election of 2017. Gavin Williamson, the campaign’s de facto chief whip, was sacked as defence secretary last month for leaking details of a confidential security briefing .
This alliance of true believers and cynics makes for a shaky foundation. It is made wobblier still by the fact that Mr Johnson’s team seems to have promised wholly contradictory things to MPs to win their support. A proposed high-speed railway between London and Birmingham will be built or cancelled; today’s cabinet ministers will be retained or sacked en masse: it all depends on whom Mr Johnson’s camp is speaking to.
Doubts about Mr Johnson’s sincerity have in the past been allayed by his reputation as a Heineken politician: one who, to adapt the beer’s slogan, gets to parts of the electorate that others can’t reach. During the leadership campaign he has repeatedly brought up his two terms as mayor of London, a left-leaning city that backed Remain, as proof that he can win votes from across the spectrum. But Mr Johnson’s last victory in London was seven years ago, against a tired opponent. Turnout was 38%.
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