The race to lead the nation: who are the men who could shape the future of Britain? And who has a plan to fix Brexit? … We are in the grip of a battle for number 10 … whether Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt will take the top job. Tonight: Who’s Our Next PM? ITV 2019
Boris Johnson has never been one to play by the rules: now he’s facing two official inquiries into his ethical conduct when he was London mayor. Not for the first time he’s in trouble over his relationship with a woman. A young American entrepreneur – Jennifer Arcuri, who called him for a favour. Exposure: When Boris Met Jennifer, ITV 2019
Mr Johnson failed to declare his relationship with Jennifer Arcuri while her business interests benefited from it. ibid.
A year that ended with us selecting Boris Johnson as prime minister. A guy who is like someone injected Hitler’s DNA into a panna cotta. Frankie Boyle’s New World Order, Review of the Year, BBC 2019
So now we’ve got Boris Johnson, an evolutionary dead-end of a Honey Monster. A bin bag of albino body parts. A cross between the Incredible Hulk and a Haribo fried egg is the fucking prime minister. The prime minister! It’s not that he’s the worst person for the job, he might be the worst mammal. Frankie Boyle
21st May 2019: Police called to Carrie Symond’s flat. This is England I-VI, Sky Atlantic 2022
Dignity still matters in public life. And Johnson will never have it. ibid. Max Hastings
We want to hire an unusual set of people with different skills and backgrounds to work in Downing Street. ibid. Cummings
People right now are not that focussed on the virus, they’re still pretty pissed off by the floods. ibid. focus group online
They’re calling it Black Money and with traders braced for the worst but in seconds it came. ibid.
It’s going to have to be something huge to make an impact. ibid.
Dignity still matters in public life. And Johnson will never have it. ibid. Max Hastings
About 60% is what you need from herd immunity. ibid. II expert
These numbers are … huge … ibid. Johnson
Something goes wrong between a man and the gods, and his whole life is overturned. ibid. IV
April 2020. The PM will be back in charge as soon as possible. But in the meantime we do have to operate like grown-ups and we have to work together as a team. ibid. V grandee’s video ink to cabinet meeting
Why is the government ignoring two Nobel prize winners in Medicine? ibid. VI expert to expert
You fucked up, Dom. ibid. Boris
Two-thirds of all Covid deaths have happened since the Second Wave hit in September. Could this catastrophe have been avoided if Boris Johnson had followed his own scientists’ advice? We disclose fresh evidence on how Boris Johnson battled against official scientific and political advice. We reveal gaps in our border controls that fuelled the second surge. Dispatches: Second Wave: Did Government Get It Wrong? Channel 4 2021
He was the Tory who had appeal way beyond his party. The great winner who delivered Brexit. And crushed Jeremy Corbyn. Now he’s under investigation by a senior civil servant and the police. He’s fighting for his political life. Dispatches: Boris Johnson: Has He Run Out of Road? Channel 4 2022
His decline in just a few short weeks is unprecedented. ibid.
Every day the papers make dreadful reading for Johnson. ibid.
Many cannot believe the great winner has become the great liability so quickly. ibid.
This is a story about a father and son. About a prime minister and parliament. And about Russian espionage and influence. It’s a story about a former KGB spy sanctioned internationally winning over Britain’s political elite, it’s a story about parties and politics. And a former prime minister, Boris Johnson, ignoring the concerns and advice of our security services. And it’s about a mutually beneficial friendship that cemented two men’s rise to power. Dispatches: Boris, the Lord & the Russian Spy, Channel 4 2023
Boris Johnson’s loyalty to the Lebedevs was soon to result in a political and national security crisis at the very heart of government. ibid.
But Michael Gove had betrayed his running mate forcing Boris Johnson out of the leadership race. Laura Kuenssberg: State of Chaos I, BBC 2023
A maverick prime minister and his power-hungry adviser face the biggest crisis since the Second World War. Laura Kuenssberg, State of Chaos II
The Conservatives smashed Labour grabbing seat after seat in towns they called their own. ibid.
Boris Johnson had relentlessly promised to get Brexit done. ibid.
When Dominic Cummings left, he left behind a government full of turbulence, a system that didn’t really seem to work. ibid.
The party that likes to believe it’s born to rule has indulged in an epic drama with no heroes. Laura Kuenssberg, State of Chaos III
Somebody [Boris Johnson] who is far too self-indulgent and self-focused to really do the job of a minister let alone the job of prime-minister.’ ibid. Philip Hammond
By now 39 ministers had resigned … Johnson was still trying to dig in. ibid.
Of course there was immediately a line-up of ambitious candidates ready to take his place. ibid.
He got Brexit done and now he was giving the North the chance to take back control. And even more amazing I had a job in his government. Partygate, Channel 4 2023
After a few weeks events started to happen. Other European countries were locking down but the boss was resisting. Death rates were rising fast. ibid.
It’s no wonder they’re called the Hail Mary Wards. ibid.
A few days after the Drinks in the Garden, I got an invitation from the boss’s Principle Private Secretary. ibid.
Party No1: 20 May 2020 … Leaving Drinks: 12 June 2020 … Party No2: 18 June 2020 … Party No3: PM’s birthday 19 June 2020 … Party No4: 13 November 2020 … Party No5: 13 November 2020 … Party No6: 27 November 2020 … Party No7: 15 December 2020 … Party No8: 17 December 2020 … Party No9: 17 December 2020 … Party No10: 17 December 2020 … Party No11: 18 December 2020 … Party No12: 14 January 2021 … Party No13: 16 April 2021 … Party No14: 16 April 2021 … ibid.
Sue Gray report p16: There was a minor altercation. ibid. captions
‘What was an office is now a shithole. Get someone to clean it up.’ ibid. head of civil service
Is there anything we don’t have a party for? ibid.
Wine-time Fridays were built into the Downing Street calendar. ibid.
‘People need boundaries. They respond well to boundaries and it’s our job to give them those boundaries. That is what we are doing. They’re not meant for us.’ ibid. party-goer
‘Let me begin in all humility …’ ibid. Johnson to parliament
‘I would like to look inside Boris Johnson’s head and find what's there.’ The Rise and Fall of Boris Johnson I, Jeremy Corbyn, Channel 4 2024
‘This is not a man of conviction. This is an opportunist.’ ibid. Michael Heseltine
This century no-one has done more to shape the destiny of our country than Boris Johnson. ibid.
‘What do you do with a problem like Boris?’ ibid. David Cameron
‘He was deaf till the age of eight … an anxious child.’ ibid. family
In 1974 Charlotte [mother] becomes an inpatient at the Maudsley Psychiatric Hospital in London. ibid.
Boris is sacked by The Times for fabricating a quote. ibid.
He pursues a longheld dream of making it to parliament. ibid.
‘How unprepared and unserious he was … I just thought he was a joke.’ ibid. colleague