Battle-weary PM Boris Johnson prepares to fight off Tory plotters
The Conservative conference this weekend is an opportunity for Boris Johnson to head off a Covid revolt.
When Boris Johnson addressed the Conservative cabinet on Wednesday, he was in a “resolute” mood. The British Prime Minister is said to have told ministers that no government in our lifetime had faced as many challenges and that it was doing “remarkably well” in the circumstances.
Ministers spent most of the meeting talking about the British government’s nature strategy. “There’s only so much you can say about coronavirus,” one said.
On the backbenches, however, it was almost all that Tory MPs were talking about. “Coronavirus has injected a poison into the veins of this country,” Sir Charles Walker, vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers, said.
“There is a changing mood where people are more willing to take responsibility for themselves. People are beginning to weigh up their own risks and manage that.”
The mood among Tory MPs remains sulphurous. The government reached a compromise with rebels later after as many as 80 suggested that they were willing to back an amendment for votes on emergency coronavirus powers.
MPs will be given votes on “significant national measures” before they are introduced, although not on local restrictions. “This was really all about stopping another national lockdown,” one of the rebels said.
There are still deep concerns, however, over the plethora of lockdown measures in different regions. “We’ve gone too hard too early,” one minister said. “The economy is still in deep freeze.”
There is particular concern among MPs about the 10pm curfew on pubs. “It’s driving people bananas,” a red wall Tory MP said. “People can’t see the logic of it. It doesn’t make sense and it’s hitting local businesses.”
Some Tory MPs have taken to savagely mocking the Prime Minister. A photoshopped image of Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s senior adviser, circulated last week among Tory MPs. It depicts Mr Cummings as a dominatrix in leather while Mr Johnson and ministers Matt Hancock, Dominic Raab and Michael Gove kneel on the floor, mostly naked and with chain leashes. “It’s caused some amusement,” an MP said.
One minister said that Mr Johnson appears “cowed”. He said: “There’s a massive desire for him to succeed. But he seems cowed. His unique selling point is about energy, decisiveness and cut-through. That’s what we need him to get back to.”
Another minister who has spent time with Mr Johnson recently, rejected the criticism. “He seems on great form,” he claimed. “He brushes off the criticism. He’s focused, he looks well, he’s a lot fitter. He doesn’t take an awful lot of notice of all the crap that’s swirling around him. There’s a lot of support for him in the party.”
Mr Johnson dismissed suggestions that he has not been the “old Boris” as “sinister disinformation”. He told South Today on Saturday on BBC One that he had lost two stones and felt “considerably better”.
Allies, however, are concerned. The Times has been told that one Tory MP gave the Prime Minister a handwritten letter naming people they believe are briefing against him. “There are a lot of Goveites on there,” a source said.
Mr Johnson is said to refer to his former campaign manager, who famously deserted him to run for the leadership, as “Boss”. It is unclear whether he means the term ironically.
There is an acknowledgment that he needs to reach out to backbenchers. He held a series of socially distanced meetings this week with MPs.
The party will announce the relocation of Conservative Campaign Headquarters to the north this weekend. The move, in which half of party staffers will be moved to a northern city – Leeds is being mooted – is to provide the new generation of MPs in the north with more support.
Mr Johnson’s commitment to a lifetime skills guarantee – offering adults without an A-level free, fully-funded college courses – has gone down well. “Big announcements can get crowded out because the media focus is understandably on coronavirus,” a government source said. “But this one’s been well-received.”
The Conservative Party conference this weekend provides an opportunity for Mr Johnson to reconnect with the Tory grassroots and his MPs, albeit via video. A survey by Conservative Home, a right-wing blog, found that fewer than one in three party members believes Mr Johnson is dealing with coronavirus well. In May the figure was 72 per cent.
The conference is being staged in a studio in Canary Wharf, East London, with Mr Johnson expected to give a “forward-looking” speech as he presents his vision of life after coronavirus.
In the meantime, Downing Street is watching the latest figures on the virus. While the number of daily infections on Friday fell from 9600 to 8400, the rate of transmission rose from 1.3 to 1.6.
In interviews on Friday, Mr Johnson emphasised the increasing rate of transmission. “There isn’t a part of the country where it hasn’t been climbing recently,” he said. “It’s a very tough balance to strike and I can see why people feel frustrated.”
While he finds suggestions from colleagues that he has lost his mojo beyond the pale, he is more relaxed about his portrayal in the latest series of Spitting Image.
The show includes a scene in which puppet figures of Mr Johnson, President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin fight while naked in a sauna.
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