Johnson’s political memoir Unleashed gets published in 2024
Date
1/16/2025 6:05:54 AM
(MENAFN) Boris Johnson’s Political memoir Unleashed, published last year, received mostly negative reviews in the UK, including harsh critiques from The Guardian and other outlets. However, such assessments overlook the deeper significance of the book, which is more than just a self-serving account. In fact, Unleashed serves as a manifesto for Johnson’s potential return to British politics, an assertion that might seem unlikely given his controversial exit in 2022. While many believe Johnson’s political career ended in disgrace, this perspective misses the broader picture of his appeal and the fragmented state of modern British politics. Johnson’s memoir doesn’t explicitly outline a plan for his comeback, but its subtext reveals a roadmap for a political resurrection.
Johnson's rise and fall highlight key shifts in contemporary Western politics. Despite his aristocratic persona, Johnson is a highly effective celebrity populist, much like Donald Trump and other rising populist leaders across Europe. Like Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George, Johnson emerged as an outsider during a political crisis and became prime minister, only to be ousted once the crisis subsided. However, Johnson is a modern figure in a way that Churchill and Lloyd George were not. The political landscape in the last decade has seen the collapse of traditional two-party systems, with conservative and social democratic parties increasingly abandoning their working-class bases in favor of global elite ideologies. Johnson, like other populists, emerged to exploit these divisions, appealing to voters disillusioned by traditional political parties.
Working-class voters, who once supported social democracy, now favor populist candidates offering quick fixes, as they struggle under economic pressures and cultural alienation. These voters have rejected rational ideologies like liberal democracy or socialism in favor of the "magical thinking" that many contemporary populist leaders embody. This shift represents a failure of the traditional left to acknowledge the changing political dynamics and the increasing appeal of irrational populism. The rise of Johnson and other populists shows how working-class frustration with the political establishment has reshaped the landscape.
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