Magic Johnsonism?

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

Institute for Government

News, Politics, Government

4.6 • 252 Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2021

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As Boris Johnson notches up two years in No.10, are we any closer to understanding what drives him? Is there such thing as an ideology in Boris’s world – a Johnsonism? Do Prime Ministers even need a guiding philosophy? To plumb the Johnson mystery, we assemble a star panel of Times columnist Matthew Parris, The Spectator’s Isabel Hardman and Tim Bale, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University. “We’ve already seen the real Boris Johnson. He’ll do and say anything to maintain his position.” – Matthew Parris “Johnson is a chameleon. He doesn’t like sitting in a tribe and he doesn’t have friends.” – Isabel Hardman “The lack of censoriousness is where Johnson connects with traditional Toryism, and you can take it all the way back to Cavaliers and Roundheads.” – Tim Bale “Leaders don’t need ideology, they just need power. Thatcherism was a bit of a mirage…” – Matthew Parris Presented by Catherine Haddon. Audio production by Alex Rees. Inside Briefing is a Podmasters Production for the IfG. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Inside Briefing, the podcast from the Institute for Governments. I'm Catherine Hadden.
0:16.2	Not every Prime Minister gets an ism. Blair did. Thatcher did. But we don't talk of
0:20.7	atleism,
0:21.6	mayism or majorism. Two years into Boris Johnson's premiership and, with much of it overtaken by
0:27.5	getting Brexit done and then getting to grips with COVID, how much can we tell about what
0:32.1	defines or guides this Prime Minister? Is there a set of principles, values and beliefs that people understand to be at the core of Boris Johnson's thinking?
0:41.0	Is there a set of principles, values and beliefs that Boris Johnson understands to be at the core of his thinking?
0:46.7	And if there is, or even if there isn't, does the nature of it matter to the Conservative Party?
0:52.5	Does it matter to the functioning of government? Does it matter to the voters?
0:57.1	That's what we're here to discuss today, and I'm joined by an excellent panel well versed in all of the isms.
1:04.2	Matthew Paris is a columnist for the Times, former Conservative MP, and a former sketchwriter for the Times.
1:10.1	Matthew, thanks for being here.
1:11.6	Nice to be here. Isabel Hardman is assistant editor at The Spectator, a regular week in Westminster
1:17.3	presenter and author of Why We Get the Wrong Politicians, as well as her new book, The Natural
1:23.0	Health Service. Isabel, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. Hello. And Tim Bell is Professor of Politics
1:29.4	at Queen Mary, University of London, and has written at least two books on the Conservatives,
1:34.0	as well as much more on political parties, general elections, and Ed Miliband. Hi, Tim. Hi there.
1:40.3	Okay, well let's kick off talking about whether political philosophy matters. Before we get to Johnson himself, does political philosophy matter? Why does it not? And if so, why not? Tim, can I start with you? Why are we even debating this? How much do you think prime ministers need a sense of guiding philosophy to get them going in the job? Well, I mean, I think it is true to say
2:01.5	that any prime minister needs some kind of load star to steer by, if you like. I mean, to use
2:08.6	that old-fashioned metaphor of the ship of state, I mean, I think unless, you know, there is some
2:14.8	kind of North Star, as it were, to guide a Prime Minister,
2:17.8	then he or she does risk not necessarily steering the whole thing onto the rocks,
	...

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