Donald Trump, Boris Johnson diminish legacies

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson has no one but himself to blame for the destruction of his political career over the Covid lockdown “partygate” scandal. But he is likely to do significantly more damage to his legacy and whatever remains of his future political prospects if he persists with his irrational, Donald Trump-like quest for revenge against the Conservative government led by Rishi Sunak. With a general election expected next year, Mr Johnson appears determined to do all he can to ensure predictions of electoral oblivion for the Conservatives and victory for Labour come true.

Like Mr Trump, Mr Johnson has a remarkable, narcissistic propensity to shoot himself through the foot. In the former US president’s case, evidence of this was seen clearly, as The Wall Street Journal noted, in his indictment by a federal court in Miami on Wednesday AEST on 37 charges relating to his handling of top-secret intelligence documents he should not have had in his possession. His alleged actions, the newspaper said, “have again played into the hands of his enemies … (they) were reckless, arrogant and remarkably self-destructive”.

In one instance, Mr Trump told a lawyer he should “pluck” out a page from the documents and not turn it over (to the authorities). In another, he brandished a classified document disclosing a top-secret battle plan for an attack on Iran in front of his staff and a writer, none of whom had security clearance. “This is secret information. Look, look at this,” Mr Trump was recorded boasting excitedly.

Since he was forced from office last September, Mr Johnson has shown similar misjudgment and contempt for the most fundamental responsibilities of high office. The seven-member House of Commons privileges committee that issued its partygate findings on Tuesday is dominated by four respected senior Conservative MPs, including Brexiteers. The committee was asked to decide whether the former prime minister misled parliament when he insisted he had not broken Covid isolation rules by holding a party in Downing Street in 2021.

The committee of parliamentary elders decided that he had. But even before it issued its report, an incandescent Mr Johnson resigned his seat in high dudgeon, charging that the committee was a “witch-hunt” and a “kangaroo court” – the same language Mr Trump invariably uses to condemn his critics. Mr Johnson was not obliged to resign his seat. He could have stayed in parliament and defended himself against the committee’s findings, even if after that he faced a period of suspension.

Instead, he headed for the exits and has doubled down on a stepped-up course aimed at undermining Mr Sunak and destroying the Conservative government he once led. It would be hard to imagine a more self-serving or damaging act of disloyalty by a former British prime minister against his own side of politics, or one more certain to ensure the return to power of Labour.

Mr Johnson’s continuing fury over being dumped may be understandable. But he seriously could not have expected otherwise. A more statesmanlike leader would have been more truthful about partygate, not misled parliament, and not churlishly set about bringing down his successor.

Mr Johnson still may claim credit for leading the Conservatives to their landslide victory in 2019, even if that was against the loony left-wing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was beatable by just about anybody. But Mr Johnson’s current antics are doing himself and the Conservative party immense damage.

As The Times said, if the Johnson pantomime persists, the reputation of the British parliament will be harmed and Conservatives will be headed for electoral oblivion. Conservatives’ only hope is to get behind Mr Sunak and leave Mr Johnson to flail around on his own, like Mr Trump, crying “I was robbed” to anyone who may bother to listen.