Has any leading politician in modern times been the subject of so much vitriol as Boris Johnson? He has been written off as a liar, lazy and unreliable. Political commentators and comedians have feasted on his alleged weaknesses.
But if last night’s exit poll and early results can be trusted, Mr Johnson has pulled off one of the most spectacular political triumphs in modern political history.
This amazing performance is a damning reproach to all those largely metropolitan sophisticates who dismissed him as a privileged buffoon – the old Etonian Bullingdon boy – supposedly out of touch with the British people.
Look what he has achieved since he became prime minister. In July he took over a divided party which only two months previously had been humiliated in the European elections
If last night’s exit poll and early results can be trusted, Mr Johnson has pulled off one of the most spectacular political triumphs in modern political history
But it appears that he is, after all, much closer to the fears and aspirations of those beyond the metropolis. He understood the deep resentment of many, including a lot of Labour voters, at the betrayal of the political class over Brexit.
Hundreds of thousands of habitual Labour voters in the so-called ‘red wall’ stretching from Wales across the Midlands and the North of England, realised that, despite all the charges of mendacity levelled against him, he is, on the issue of Brexit, to be trusted.
Look what he has achieved since he became prime minister. In July he took over a divided party which only two months previously had been humiliated in the European elections.
It appears that he is, after all, much closer to the fears and aspirations of those beyond the metropolis. He understood the deep resentment of many, including a lot of Labour voters, at the betrayal of the political class over Brexit
The bien pensant classes announced that he would never be able to persuade Brussels to re-open the Withdrawal Agreement. Some even doubted whether he was sincere in trying to reach a new deal.
In the event, he persuaded Brussels to return to the negotiating table. And he succeeded in persuading the hard nuts of the Tory European Research Group to accept a deal which in many respects bore a remarkable resemblance to Theresa May’s failed agreement.
No doubt he made some errors in his headlong attempt to deliver Brexit. The proroguing of Parliament was almost certainly unnecessary, since in return for denying MPs only five or six days of sittings, he earned the censure of the Supreme Court, and was accused of misleading the Queen.
No doubt he made some errors in his headlong attempt to deliver Brexit. The proroguing of Parliament was almost certainly unnecessary, since in return for denying MPs only five or six days of sittings, he earned the censure of the Supreme Court, and was accused of misleading the Queen
So he reluctantly called a General Election. During the campaign he has been the butt of unprecedented attacks, not least in the media. He was accused of ducking interviews, and regularly lampooned
But still he forged on, and made a genuine attempt to get his newly renegotiated deal through the Commons, only to be thwarted by the usual combination of Remainers, whose unofficial leader was Speaker John Bercow.
So he reluctantly called a General Election. During the campaign he has been the butt of unprecedented attacks, not least in the media. He was accused of ducking interviews, and regularly lampooned. Channel Four even replaced him with a block of melting ice when he had the lese majeste not to turn up to a debate on climate change.
He has endured a barrage of lies from Labour and Jeremy Corbyn, the most pernicious of which was that the Tories were intending to sell the NHS to a voracious President Donald Trump.
And he refused, despite a great deal of pressure from some in his own party, to make a deal with the Brexit Party, despite realistic predictions that Nigel Farage would deny him crucial seats in the Midlands and the North of England
And he refused, despite a great deal of pressure from some in his own party, to make a deal with the Brexit Party, despite realistic predictions that Nigel Farage would deny him crucial seats in the Midlands and the North of England.
Without doubt it wasn’t an exhilarating campaign, and Mr Johnson certainly made his fair share of gaffes – not least his apparent refusal earlier this week to take seriously the fate of a young boy who had been moved from a bed onto the floor in Leeds General Infirmary.
But despite such occasional setbacks, he stuck to his core message – which was that the country had grown tired of the delay over Brexit, and he alone offered a way out of the never ending nightmare.
In repeating endlessly the need to ‘get Brexit done’, he instinctively understood the resentment of many people – including even some Remainers – at the foot dragging of the political class. He knew that, above all, this election was about Brexit.
Rejected though he has been by some Remainer Tories in the South, many former Labour voters saw him as an honest broker who would honour their vote in the 2016 referendum.
In the past 80 years there have been three Tory Leaders who have broken out of their tribe to appeal to other voters. The first was Winston Churchill, the hero of World War II.
Margaret Thatcher, though admittedly disliked in many quarters, attracted working class voters with her promise that they would be able to buy their own council houses.
Boris Johnson is the third Tory leader in the last century with a truly national appeal. No doubt many people can see his weaknesses, but they are attracted to his vigour, humour and humanity.
He has, in fact, redefined the Tory Party by taking it out of its traditional bounds. In the process he has demolished Corbyn’s Marxist Labour Party. It will likely take it many years to recover.
Even some of Boris Johnson’s many critics will surely accept that he has pulled off an extraordinary triumph which has transformed the political life of our country.