The Guardian asked a small number of historians for their assessments of Boris Johnson’s time as prime minister. Their comments were incorporated in an article “The most controversial PM since Lloyd George: historians on Johnson” which was published on 5 September. Alistair Lexden’s contribution to this article follows:
Many Conservative leaders have been extremely controversial because policies in which they believed passionately divided the country. Mrs Thatcher’s radical economic reforms are an obvious example. Neville Chamberlain’s search for an agreement with Hitler to prevent war is another.
Boris Johnson was at the centre of one of the greatest of all political controversies: Brexit. He relished the controversy solely because it enabled him to advance his own interests, not because he had a vision of how Brexit would benefit his country. He has been unable to explain how a momentous upheaval will ultimately bring great economic gains, or to lay serious plans for Britain outside the EU. His Tory predecessors would have been aghast. Think of how Mrs Thatcher submitted to long media interviews, justifying in detail what she was doing. Johnson has not given a single interview of that kind.
Johnson was the most frivolous leader the Conservative Party has ever had, the Nero de nos jours. He would not put in the hours that running a successful government demands. He chopped and changed policies at whim. He was the first Conservative leader to show no respect for the country’s historic institutions, embarrassing the Queen by proroguing Parliament illegally, and treating Lords and Commons with disdain. He often acted in ways that are incompatible with Conservative values and traditions. Was he really a Conservative at all? That ultimately is why this egotistical prime minister without political convictions will always be regarded as one of the most controversial holders of the office.
