Name? Boris Johnson
Westphalian identity? British
Age? 58
Why is he in the news? British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced today that he would quit after he dramatically lost the support of more than 50 ministers and lawmakers.
Why do we care? Boris Johnson, or as his good friends call him, Bojo, has been a loyal guest in our daily updates (13 times!), other RAIA articles (6 times!) and one profile (what do we do with that now?). Given that this will most likely be the last daily update on him, we want to say thank you and goodbye. Not necessarily for good policy making, but for always making us chuckle and giving us something to write (rant) about.
Why should you care? Remember that wave of populism from 2015-2017 with figures such as Trump, Bolsonaro and Johnson? After promising to easily solve the world it seems like their time is over. Now with Trump and Bojo gone and with Bolsonaro facing an election in October with strong prospects for the opposition candidate, it seems like countries are ready to return to boring politics again. You should care 8/10.
Who else cares? The European Union could not hide its joy but tried anyway. The EU Commission declined to comment and said its stance in a post-Brexit impasse over Northern Ireland would not be affected by political developments in the UK. “On the events in the UK… we have no comment on democratic processes in third countries,” a spokesperson for the EU’s executive said on Thursday.
Any further comments? Potential successors for Johnson could be former Finance minister Rishi Sunak or foreign minister Liz Truss. Sunak has been fairly popular over the past few years and resigned just in time not to be seen as too Johnson-loyal. Truss on the other hand just cut her trip to Indonesia short in order to be in the UK where the scramble for Johnson’s position has already begun.
