It is important to be honest from the start. I have never been much of a fan of Boris Johnson. I have tried hard to see the appeal that others have. I’ve had the opportunity to listen to him and observe him up close but I was always left with that ‘Milky Way’ feeling - ‘the sweet you can eat between meals without ruining your appetite’.
However I accept that I have always been in a minority, I’ve watched almost an entire room laugh at his wordplay. I’ve put it down to you cannot be right about everything - more “it’s not you, it’s me”. Most importantly, he is the leader of my party and the nation’s Prime Minister. It’s important to be supportive.
But it’s proving difficult.
We are in the midst of a global crisis where half the country is an expert on something - from epidemiology through to international treaties. Being Prime Minister is not an easy role and requires a skill set which very few of us have. That’s why when you seek the role you really need to be certain you are up to the task.
You’ll be judged on how you do the job itself, in the round and not just the election winning part.
However with the Prime Minister the apparent lack of ‘grip’, the elliptical discourse, the inability to stick to facts and a coherent line is starting to undermine both our efforts in dealing with COVID-19 and our preparation for the future.
So what’s triggered my slight despair ?
Over the last 10 days I’ve watched the Prime Minister closely, at the No 10 COVID-19 Briefing last week, the last 2 PMQs and yesterday’s Liaison Committee appearance. Last week’s No 10 briefing saw the Prime Minister undermine almost every bit of messaging in a quest to wrap up the news in a bow. There is no room for ‘nuance’ during a pandemic. The nation is not well served with push-me, pull-me messaging which swings wildly between virtual apocalypse and crack-on and live your life to the full.
As cases go up and testing demands increase it feels like the last 6 months of sacrifice have been for nought. Which isn’t the case but that’s the perception at the very moment when the days are shortening. We fought the first wave in spring and early summer, deprived of outdoor escape in winter will prove depressing.
And what about PMQs ? They lack the crispness that help settle nerves. There isn’t going to be a general election for years. We don’t want ‘knock about’. We want questions asked and questions answered. Detail and a showcasing of the good that government has done and intends to do.
The last 2 weeks of Brexit shenanigans have been an unwarranted distraction. Conservative MPs tweeting out “Back the Bill, Back Boris, Back Brexit” is so 2019. The country has moved on, we don’t want a rerun of the last 3 years. It’s happening. Deliver the deal cooly and calmly. Brexit is as much as a distraction as the SNP’s efforts north of the border to start talking about separation. We are tired of these polarizing debates which often feel like they are designed to divide and divert attention.
With a climb down negotiated yesterday all of this has just drained a little more authority from the Prime Minister and opened up another front to fight.
But it’s the death by a thousand little inconsistencies and mixed messages that really undermines our collective effort. Days of conjecture of whether or not you should report your neighbour if they break the ‘rule of 6th. “Yes” says the Home Secretary, “yes” says the Policing Minister, “no” says the Prime Minister. What’s the take away from that ? Yeah, who cares about the rule of 6.
This was never going to be easy but all the more reason for communications to be crisp and not muddled. Arguably the Government’s communications were at their most clear and focused when Dominic Raab was ‘acting Prime Minister’. We need coherence and consistency.
It feels as if the Conservative Party got the leadership sequencing wrong. Johnson should have been the Brexit Prime Minister and May the Covid Prime Minister. Her focus, straight talking, honesty and mastery of detail is the medicine the country could have used right now but that ship has long sailed.
With tough days ahead of us, it’s time for Boris Johnson 2.0.
The clock is ticking.
(NB Political Cartoon by Morten Morland, The Times.)