Johnson doesn't deliver, but wins anyway

It may very well be that Boris Johnson fails utterly on that front but wins anyway. New analysis shows this week that it was the grey part of the red wall that did it for him

- Tom Peck

LONDON

Every few years, Boris Johnson wins a large-scale electoral event, usually by miles, and a fairly sizeable chunk of the political pundit community are told to go and hang their heads in shame. He turned London Conservative, not once but twice, he won a huge majority when many were braced for another hung parliament, and there was also that Brexit thing.

Those who live with their noses pressed against the glass of the Westminster clown show, who have seen and suffered so much, are gleefully told how wrong they are. That they just don’t see Boris how the public see him. That their loathing of him over Brexit blinds them, or rather us, to everything else.

It is always a very difficult lesson to learn because frankly, it’s wrong. Repeated electoral triumph does not correct the record of dishonesty or of straightforward moral degeneracy in his private life, but most of all it does not correct the realities of his uniquely opportunistic approach to politics.

There are no other politicians around who would find themselves having to write two newspaper columns, one in support of Brexit, one against. Having to stress test your own convictions in such a way proves they are not real, but merely opportunities for self-advancement.

Johnson governs with the backing of what were once Labour-voting areas, and he knows those votes are on loan. He has said so many times. And while Labour was humiliated in the Hartlepool by-election, it has realistic cause to hope that the next general election is likely to be fought in a far simpler political environment than has become normal in recent years.