Yesterday, faced with the humiliation of a damning report by the House of Commons Privileges Committee, due to be published shortly, Boris Johnson resigned as an MP.

For him personally, of course, that makes it a very significant day.

This article explores what it means for the UK as a whole.

Our conclusion is that it is a significant moment: it symbolises a remarkable – though far from complete – shift of power away from the extreme right:

  • Just over two years ago, the Johnson government, despite its obvious failings, looked for all practical purposes invulnerable;
  • But public pressure has forced out many of the worst individuals – though by no means all; and
  • Public pressure has overturned many bad policies – though by no means all.

Two short years ago, Johnson looked invulnerable

In March, 2021, we wrote an article The Fragility Behind the Façade, which claimed that despite all the evidence up to that point, the extreme right’s hold on power was fragile, and that if the progressively-minded members of the UK population united, we could realistically still topple them.

At the time of writing, that case might not have seemed strong: despite having a dismal record on virtually every performance measure, Johnson’s Conservative Party held a substantial lead in the polls (on the day the article was published, it stood at 7%) –  and it was still widening. The bulk of the press had long been under the ownership of off-shore billionaires with extreme right-wing views; and with his appointments to BBC governance, Johnson’s control over the ‘information’ made available to the British public was impressive. It looked as though his Teflon coating was impervious to the reality of his performance. Many people could see no hope of change and some became despondent and discouraged.

But our argument was simple: firstly, that despite what people were told by the media, the evidence of their own lives was increasingly informing them that things were going badly wrong in the UK; and secondly, that the number who were actually benefiting from the Conservatives’ policies was vastly smaller than the number of those who were losing out. If we could find ways to utilise our combined power, we could not be stopped. That argument still seems right.

And it is remarkable how the situation has changed since that article was written. Take a look at the polls, for example.

Public pressure has forced out many of the worst individuals

Johnson, who has a claim (perhaps disputed by Truss) to be the worst Prime Minister so far in British history, has gone from being an apparently impregnable leader to not even being an MP. That in itself is remarkable – and extremely good news for the UK.

At first, it was not obvious that it would be good news as all the contenders to replace him were proteges of the extreme right-wing Tufton Street think tanks, and the winner of the leadership contest was Liz Truss who was more extreme even than Johnson.

But Truss lasted just 46 days as Prime Minister. Her first major act was a so-called mini-Budget which was in fact so far from being mini- that the Bank of England immediately felt compelled to step in and raise interest rates in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. The polls responded quickly – after a 3-day honeymoon, they plummeted to lower levels than they had ever been under Johnson. The first to be ejected was Truss’s Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, but this was not enough: just eight days later, Truss herself was forced out.

Other cabinet members who have been forced out since that article was written include:

Braverman, of course, is back. But now no one in the cabinet looks invulnerable. And this is important because these individuals have been behind many of the worst policies of the last few years.

Public pressure has overturned many bad policies

As we have written previously, much recent legislation has been hugely damaging to the UK, both economically and in terms of our democracy.

But many of the worst pieces of legislation were overturned, for example:

Conclusion

The stakes remain very high. As we wrote last week, the UK may now only be four steps from fascism. On the other hand, we can now see our combined power far more clearly. If we unite, we can stop this dash towards extremism. The positive signs, which we may not have seen in the past are now much more clearly visible.

Thomas Jefferson said, “The government you elect is the government you deserve.” Let us make sure we elect one we deserve.

As voters, whether we see ourselves as left-wing, dead centre or traditional one-nation Conservative, we need:

  • To make sure we will be allowed a vote under the new rules;
  • To use that vote to prevent another Conservative win – even if that means voting for a party we might normally not support; and meanwhile
  • To make as many others aware of what is at stake as we can.

And you could write to your MP to get Braverman sacked again.

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