Boris Johnson: a breath of fresh air in stagnated British politics

When he was the Mayor of London for two successive terms, he used to be on his bike daily to his office, instead of being inside a chauffeur-driven car, escorted to and fro by security detail.

The meteoric rise of the Eaton-and-Oxford educated journalist completely defied the guidelines offered in a text book on political science, when he finally landed at the pinnacle of his political career.

Having become the new British prime minister on Wednesday, Mr Johnson joins an enviable league of men in the sphere of politics – men of action: men, who just don’t keep talking, but act decisively in the event of a crucial need arising, perhaps listening to the dictates of the instinct; they certainly have advisors, but when it comes to decision making, these men go it alone, come what may.

The downfall of Mrs Theresa May was accelerated when she couldn’t be decisive on the issue of Brexit, having been too cautious about consequences, perhaps taking what her advisors said to her too seriously.

Although Mrs May came to power by announcing that ‘Brexit means Brexit’, she was compelled to chop and change owing to the influence of her closest advisors and of course, the dictates of the bureaucrats in Brussels. In short, her perceived vacillation cost her the job.

Mr Johnson, on the other hand, is the polar opposite of Mrs May. Some of Mr Johnson’s critics used his lack of appetite for endless details – files, data, charts, models and even presentations – as a sign of weakness and cornered him on those grounds. That, however, didn’t work. Not only did the party-faithful completely ignore it, but set his victory in motion with a comfortable majority.

The new British prime minister showed his mettle with his first speech as the prime minister in the parliament. He said the Brexit would definitely happen in October whether the EU and Britain reached an agreement or not, raising the spectacle of much-dreaded no-deal Brexit. He said that he was prepared to go into tit-for-tat mode if the EU tries to drag the issue any longer.

On security front too, Mr Johnson has been decisive; he ordered the Royal Navy to escort all ships carrying the British flag, while through the Strait of Hormuz. It’s a complete ‘U’ turn as far as the stance of the previous British government is concerned; the previous defence minister was on record saying that the Royal Navy could not afford to provide every British ship with security while in the Strait of Hormuz.

The challenges faced by Mr Johnson, however, even in the first week of his new position are significant. For instance, a British tanker is already in the custody of Iranians and how Mr Johnson is going to deal with that issue remains to be seen, although Iranians have given the green light for a swap of ships in their respective custody.

The relationship with the Trump administration is not going to be easy either, although President Trump wanted him to be the new prime minister of Britain; whether Mr Johnson is going to extend his support for Mr Trump’s policies on a case-by-case basis or as a whole, remains to be seen in the coming months.

When Mr Johnson focuses on his key promise to the party-faithful, the Brexit, the relationship with the rest of the European Union is undoubtedly going to be toxic at best and openly hostile at worst. In this context, he can’t afford to be in the bad books of Britain’s best ally, the United States.

Mr Johnson will be compelled to sharpen up his political acumen to deal with a range of issues of this magnitude in the coming months. Millions of his followers think that he will master the vital skills on the job, given his serious involvement in political realm is relatively short by the standard of British politics.

- Asian Tribune -