For British public, anger at Boris boils down to questions of fairness
| London
Prime Minister鈥檚 Questions, the weekly interrogation of Britain鈥檚 top office by elected officials, is always a dramatic high point in Parliament. But Wednesday鈥檚 encounter was truly extraordinary: a cacophony of voices听鈥� not just from opposition parties but from a senior figure in the governing Conservatives听鈥� with a single, bracing message for Prime Minister Boris Johnson: It is time for you to go.
When, or whether, he will do so remains unclear.
But the pressure on him is building, only two years after an election victory that gave his party a commanding majority in the House of Commons. And while Mr. Johnson has a long record of parrying such political challenges, this time seems very different.
Why We Wrote This
The pandemic seems to be changing the rules for what鈥檚 acceptable behavior by British government officials. And that could prove fatal for Boris Johnson鈥檚 tenure as prime minister.
The main item on the charge sheet听鈥� hypocrisy听鈥� isn鈥檛 new. Rather, what might be called the new politics of the pandemic are in place: a deeper change in the atmosphere, and the rules, defining what鈥檚 seen as acceptable in a political leader.
Mr. Johnson鈥檚 main misstep might have been tricky to defend even in more ordinary times: He sanctioned, and in at least one case joined, food-and-drink parties in the official Downing Street residence, at the very time his government鈥檚 lockdown rules barred such gatherings for the rest of the country.
But now, it鈥檚 personal. It鈥檚 being felt as a visceral affront by the many millions of Britons听鈥撎齣ncluding voters and politicians who have supported him through earlier political challenges 鈥� who have been following the rules, seeing their own family鈥檚 lives turned upside down during two long years of the pandemic.
鈥淓verybody knows the stories of relatives attending births via Zoom, not meeting grandchildren, or failing to be present with a dying relative in the critical last moments,鈥� explains Andrew Russell, professor of politics at the University of Liverpool.
The anger being directed at the prime minister and his Downing Street team, he says, is because they鈥檙e seen as 鈥渘ot taking that [sacrifice] seriously.鈥�
A failure of fairness
Political reproach has come and gone during Mr. Johnson鈥檚 2 1/2 years as prime minister, including over a plan to seize control of a parliamentary anti-corruption watchdog following a cash-for-access scandal, as well as allegations of party donors paying for the refurbishment of the prime minister鈥檚 residence.
But Mr. Johnson has survived the controversies largely thanks to the support he amassed due to Brexit and the patient attitude of the public toward his pandemic policies.
Yet now, there鈥檚 real anger, and it shows little sign of fading.听As he did during Prime Minister鈥檚 Questions, Mr. Johnson has attempted to fend off questions over the parties by saying that critics need to wait until an official inquiry, being carried out by Cabinet Office civil servant Sue Gray, is completed.
But听regardless of the outcome of the inquiry,听the Downing Street parties broke what Daniel Finkelstein, political columnist at The Times newspaper, describes as the core bond of 鈥渞eciprocity鈥� with voters. Expecting others to lock down while not doing so themselves has 鈥渢riggered the fairness norm鈥� in voters鈥� minds, Mr. Finkelstein says.
The idea of sacrifice has also changed. Professor Russell says the hardships of the pandemic accelerated a sense of togetherness that Britons dub 鈥渢he Blitz spirit.鈥� While that has somewhat faded as lockdown regulations eased, the pandemic has lifted ideas that altruism and sacrifice are for so-called celebrities as much as for the ordinary citizen.
Earlier in the pandemic, lesser figures around Mr. Johnson experienced the political effects of the anger that their failure to live up to the public鈥檚 sense of fairness generated.
When government scientist Neil Ferguson broke lockdown rules, he had to resign. The same happened when former Health Secretary Matt Hancock was found to have breached the social distancing guidelines he had long asked others to follow.
听
And the new pandemic-era intensity of grassroots resentment of such breaches is becoming evident outside Britain as well, most recently in the controversy surrounding tennis star Novak Djokovic鈥檚 attempt to to compete in the Australian Open 鈥� despite his decision to forgo the vaccinations required for other visitors to Australia.
There鈥檚 a growing sense among many people, says Patrick Diamond, a former policy adviser in Downing Street, that there is 鈥渙ne rule for the government and the rich鈥� and another rule for the rest. 鈥淭hat has struck home.鈥�
And it鈥檚 hitting home for Mr. Johnson especially. He rose to political prominence in large part due to an ability to connect with ordinary people, to communicate and entertain them in equal measure.听But news of the Downing Street parties has appeared in the media in a slow drip-drip, contributing to a sense of unending exposed breaches听鈥� and frustration that has now reached a critical mass. 鈥淎ll of a sudden, he finds himself no longer of the people. He looks very much like the elite, doing what he wants,鈥� says Dr. Diamond, now a professor of politics at Queen Mary, University of London.
Are the walls crumbling for Boris?
The debate could be fatal for Mr. Johnson鈥檚 tenure, as he faces a growing number of calls to quit. A leadership contest would be triggered if 15% of Tory members of Parliament (54 of them) send a letter of 鈥渘o confidence鈥� to the powerful Conservative backbench 1922 Committee. There is speculation in the media that between 20 and 40 letters have already been sent to the committee.
Dr. Diamond says that part of the prime minister鈥檚 fightback plan is to throw 鈥渞ed meat that will please the Tory base.鈥� The government has already announced plans to take away the BBC funding and send the Royal Navy to push back refugee boats coming from France, both moves popular with the party core. The pressure the prime minister is under also may spur him to enact more radical policies in an attempt to deal with the rising cost of living.
But if Mr. Johnson is found to have breached the ministerial code, his position will become untenable not just to ministers, but to the very people who helped elect him.
Mr. Johnson owes his majority to 鈥渞ed wall鈥� constituencies in the north of England, so called because they long supported the Labour Party, whose color is red. Many of those communities flipped to Mr. Johnson鈥檚 Conservatives in 2019, but they have suffered disproportionately in the pandemic. On Wednesday, one of the Tory MPs elected in 2019 in the red-wall region defected to Labour in dramatic fashion, perhaps another sign that Mr. Johnson鈥檚 time is running out.
鈥淰oters, especially those in left-behind areas of the country, are constantly in search of trustworthy politicians who can revive their hope in politics,鈥� says听Sam Bright, an investigative political journalist from Huddersfield, a red-wall constituency. 鈥淵et, when a politician shatters those hopes, people are unforgiving.鈥�
