It is customary for doctors working in Britain’s National Health Service to undergo an annual appraisal as part of a personal development programme. It is not known whether those collectively overseeing the nation’s economic and political health also have to do the same. Nonetheless, it seems a good idea and, in the absence of any other fixed date, one’s own birthday can be a good time to reflect on the past year’s performance. In the same spirit, although without the actual participation of the appraisee, we can choose to assess British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 19 June 2021, the day he turns 57.
To repeat a well-worn cliché, it has been a year of mixed fortunes for Mr Johnson. On the domestic front, after a shaky start to the government’s pandemic response, marred by inconsistent messaging and delayed lockdowns, shortages of PPE, test-and-trace mishaps, and over 152,000 deaths in which Covid-19 featured on the death certificates, there followed a most successful vaccine procurement and roll-out programme, thanks to a specially appointed Minister for Vaccines, a government Vaccine Taskforce, and the unstinting efforts of frontline healthcare providers and volunteers.
On Mr Johnson’s scorecard, “Brexit is done” takes pride of place among his achievements . But he seems to have run into a spot of bother just as Brexit unravels, encountering problems which many Brexiters apparently anticipated and seem happy to weather out. Such unresolved matters as the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, protection of British agriculture and the fishing industry, and continued unfettered trade with the EU, can thus be considered as nothing more than predictable bumps on the highway to long-lasting freedom and national sovereignty.
On the global front, Mr Johnson’s Presidency of the G7 Summit in Cornwall in his birth month was disrupted as differences with the EU broke out into the open, somewhat overshadowing his attempts to transform the UK into a global superpower. On the plus side, however, the G7 leaders did manage to agree on vaccine sharing, action on climate change, and other weighty matters of the day.
On the family front, Mr Johnson made an “honest woman” out of Ms. Carrie Symonds, just in time for her to join the other visiting spouses at the G7 summit. On Saturday, 31 May 2021, Westminster Cathedral (Roman Catholic) was cleared out for a “top secret” wedding ceremony, for a Prime Minister baptised in the Catholic faith. Although previously twice-divorced, his third marriage could be blessed by a church normally against divorce. His first two marriages apparently did not count, not having involved Catholic ceremonial. Shortly after Mr Johnson’s latest wedding, his second wife, Marina Wheeler commented on their 25-year-old marital union, saying that “the marriage had become impossible, so I ended it”.
On the residential front, there were mutterings about the refurbishments carried out by the new occupant of the four-bedroom flat at 11 Downing Street, such as the matter of who actually paid for the lavish new wallpaper. It was alleged that spousal tastes in home décor and an antipathy for John Lewis merchandise dictated the purchase of embossed ‘gold’ wallpaper from London “eco designer” Lulu Lytle, of Soane Britain, at £840 a roll. The controversy appears to have died out since, in the face of more pressing matters.
On the personal front, this has been a year of damaging accusations about Mr. Johnson’s personality and character, from former close colleagues, including ex- Chief Adviser Dominic Cummings, who resigned on 11 November 2020, and former deputy Sir Alan Duncan, from his time as Foreign Secretary. Other embarrassments came from non-governmental sources. On 18 May 2021, Ms. Jenny McGee, a lead intensive care nurse who had looked after Mr Johnson at St Thomas’s Hospital in April 2020, announced her resignation from the NHS. She accused Mr Johnson and his government of a lack of respect for NHS staff, while also criticising the Government’s handling of the pandemic.
Mr Johnson has proved competent at playing the political game to his advantage, backed by an unassailable 80-seat parliamentary majority, briefly up to 81 after Hartlepool ,but soon back down to 80 the day before his birthday, and further propped up by a weak opposition. Once again, for the sake of the nation’s welfare, the hope is that he will do the right things when and where it really matters. In keeping with the occasion, we wish our blond and tousle-haired Prime Minister yet another Happy Birthday!
Ashis Banerjee