Johnson Flashcards
Background
Born in 1964 in New York, moved between the UK and USA a number of times.
Gained a scholarship to study at the prestigious Eton College, and went on to study Classics at Oxford University.
Became a member of the infamous Bullingdon Club alongside David Cameron.
Worked for The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Spectator, and was sacked from his job at The Times for false reporting.
Became MP for Henley in 2001, was elected Mayor of London in 2008 and re-elected in 2012.
Elected as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip in 2015, and won the Conservative Party leadership election in 2019, becoming Prime Minister.
Major Events
Took the UK out of the European Union following the 2016 referendum.
Oversaw the UK’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including lockdowns and rolling out vaccines.
A major cost of living crisis after the COVID-19 pandemic which saw prices of everyday goods skyrocket.
Led Britain’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Criticised for attending parties during lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, and was the first Prime Minister in history to be found to have broken the law.
Control of cabinet and policy
Johnson looked more to his advisor Dominic Cummings than to his cabinet for initial support.
He was elected as the candidate that could ‘Get Brexit Done’ by Tory members, and this resonated with voters at the 2019 general election. His personality won lots of people over.
Rishi Sunak, Johnson’s Chancellor, said that there were disagreements over economic policy, but Johnson made his case. This included a rise to National Insurance contributions that was not well received by many Conservative MPs.
Lack of control of cabinet and policy
The biggest flaw with Johnson’s control of policy was the nature of his demise. Having been caught breaking lockdown rules and making misleading statements, many MPs lost confidence in him. This led to 62 of the 179 government ministers resigning in early July 2022, which caused Johnson to resign.
He was also unable to push through with lowering taxes and other policies due to the COVID-19 pandemic that had a huge impact on the economy.
