Will Boris Johnson survive his full term?

At the moment, it looks 50/50.

He won a landslide election victory two years ago and emerged from his government's (very bad) early handling of the corona crisis unscathed. However, problems are now mounting up and his personal popularity has collapsed. Despite never convincing, Labour has closed the gaps in the polls and our Prime Minister looks like he is floundering.

I think Johnson can ride out this current crisis if he has a quiet two months but he is probably one more major scandal away from losing his job. Unlike the American system, premiers can be removed by MPs in their own party during a term. The Conservative Party has form in this and Johnson himself only got his job when he led a mid-term rebellion against Theresa May. The Conservatives even got rid of Margaret Thatcher (an iconic figure for them) when they realised that she was set to lose the next election. Johnson has never been liked by the other leaders in his party and owes his success to his appeal with the public, an appeal which is in a state of steady collapse.

I would still predict that the Conservatives are more likely than not to win the next election because Keir Starmer is leading a vacuous opposition. However, it may well be with a different leader than Mr Johnson.

Thoughts?

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Londonn · 36-40, M

I like him, I am not a nitpicking person cuz I come from Turkey and I know what a real hell looks like, try imagining erdogan as your PM for one second, the things you name as a scandal here can only be a little news in the 3rd page in a newspaper in Turkey. So overall Boris is doing good, plus I genuinely belive that he didn't handle the corona badly at start.. people with all the now data in their hand blame the uk gov for not doing this and that in the early pandemic, but to me it's like the last scene of Sully.. where the testing pilots immediately started a return prodecure as soon as the birds strike happened, which was not appeciable in real life situations.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Londonn He is not as bad as Erdoğan granted. That doesn't mean he is good. The UK has more money and less social divisions than Turkey so, in theory, we have more capacity to deal with problems.

I said at the time he handled the early pandemic badly. The flirtation with herd immunity, the bungled PPE orders and the disaster of track and trace. He missed the first five meetings as the crisis was emerging.

What this government did do well was the vaccine rollout. We were lucky that a British company discovered the vaccine and the roleout was well administered through the NHS.

Londonn · 36-40, M

@Burnley123 I genuinely believe that Boris moved serious amount of money to medical industry from the start of the pandemic [i]so [/i]the vaccine could be discovered, I don't belive it is just a [i]luck[/i], I myself work in the medical industry and because of the projects rain even my company become rich in 2 years.

It is not important if UK has more money or less social divisions than Turkey, the most important thing is you have democracy! While I described my gov, I didn't say good or bad, I said hell, doesn't your PM show up every week in the parliement and answer all your questions one by one personally? Even that simple fact is mind blowing which you guys take for granted.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Londonn I don't take it for granted and I'm also mildly concerned about the government starting to use American vote r suppression tactics and clamping down on the right to protest. Granted, its nowhere near as bad as Turkey.

Londonn · 36-40, M

@Burnley123 I'd never believe your right to protest can be clamped down, I saw people walking in Trafalgar not to wear masks because it was against their freedom, and if someone wants to look for the gaps in the war with covid in uk, maybe they can start with your love of freedom, which I admire mostly, cuz they'd say even it'll kill them they won't wear it haha.. I had a Chinese friend and it was hardcore pandemic days and asked her if the situation should be so bad in China no? because it all started there I was thinking, she said not at all, it was waay better in China than UK because she said they didn't have democracy there and once the gov put lockdown rules there nobody left their home and the spread of covid cut instantly. But here, some people would still say these mild lockdown rules were [i]antidemocratic[/i] haha.. see, in such a country like UK, it's all about finding a sweetspot putting such lockdown rules and also be democratic at the same time because LBC radio is watching you very very closely 😁 but I think he did well..

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Londonn The government recently passed a law making it illegal to 'cause offense' or interfere with public property at a protest. Look it up if you don't believe me. Yes, these are first world problems (quite literally) but democracy exists on a sliding scale. There is myriad different levels between democracy and dictatorship and Erdoğan himself eroded Turkish democracy by increments.

Londonn · 36-40, M

@Burnley123 I've read this https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/offences-during-protests-demonstrations-or-campaigns and I didn't see anything weird but if you consider any part of it as a first world problem then I should believe you, I can't detect it yes.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Londonn https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/01/imprisoned-51-weeks-protesting-britain-police-state

Londonn · 36-40, M

@Burnley123 oh I see, this happened after those insulate uk weirdos glue themselves on the motorway 😁 now thry should find a clever way to protest I assume

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Londonn I support them lol. Agree to disagree. Mind how you go.

Entwistle · 56-60, M

@Londonn Democracy is fine if our options are truthful,honest people. Generally they are self serving,lying bastards.
They all promise much and deliver little. In fact often they deliver the exact opposite of what they promise.