The difference a real leader has made to Labour. And to the Conservatives

Boris Johnson, technically the UK Prime Minister, though many suspect he’s a puppet in the hands of his chief adviser Dominic Cummings, enjoys a reputation for wit in both senses of the word: intelligent to the point of brilliance, and endowed with a charming sense of humour. 

It’s becoming increasingly clear that this claim is tenuous ion both counts.

Don’t take my word for it. Toby Helm, in the Observer, quotes a senior Tory on Johnson’s performance against Opposition leader Keir Starmer, at Prime Minister’s Questions this week.

That’s, a senior Tory. A leading figure from Johnson’s own party.

I thought it was as bad a performance as I have seen from a prime minister in that environment. He has a problem, which is, fundamentally, that he doesn’t have the qualities to do the job properly. He doesn’t work hard enough, he is not on top of the detail, he doesn’t have a clear vision and sense of direction on most issues, and he is being found out.

Helm admits that this is at “the harsh end of the spectrum” but assures us that “such assessments of the prime minister and his government are not uncommon these days inside the party”.

Johnson (left): mercilessly exposed by Starmer

This rather gives the lie to the notion that Johnson is particularly bright. As the great inventor Thomas Edison pointed out, “genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Great accomplishments depend not so much on ingenuity as on hard work.” Few people any longer suspect Johnson of perspiring very much over his job.

Indeed, it feels as though he leaves the hard work to Cummings, another self-proclaimed genius. But with the government having to engage in U-turn after U-turn on policy this summer, it seems clear that Cummings isn’t a lot of good either. 

Nor should we forget that Cummings is the man who tried to justify one of several lockdown breaches by claiming that he drove to a beauty spot to test whether his eyesight was up to driving. This statement is wrong in so many ways that I’m not going to waste space listing them. Let’s just say that, as an excuse, it leaves ‘the dog ate my homework’ sounding like a glowing exemplar of truthfulness and plausibility.

What about Johnson’s sense of humour? Thoroughly rattled by Starmer’s questioning, he accused the Opposition Leader of being a supporter of the IRA. As Starmer promptly replied, he’d spent five years of his career prosecuting IRA members and working with the intelligence service in tracking them down. That left Johnson’s comment looking as dumb as it was ill-humoured. When Johnson needed a witty response, he came up with nothing better than ill-informed abuse.

To make things worse, called on by the Speaker of the Commons to withdraw his statement, Johnson refused, showing he didn’t even have the guts to admit he’d been wrong.

“He is being found out,” as Toby Helm’s senior Tory told him. “He doesn’t have the qualities to do the job properly”. Yep. Johnson was highly effective at winning the Prime Ministership. He’s totally out of his depth trying to carry out the duties that go with the post.

What’s interesting, though, is that he’s being found out not just because of his own (or possibly Cummings’) string of inept actions. He’s also being found out because he’s facing a Leader of the Opposition worthy of the title.

Labour has, in effect, been without a leader for over ten years. Gordon Brown, irascible and undisciplined, committed error after error on his way to electoral defeat in 2010. Ed Miliband, his successor, was no better, and Jeremy Corbyn gave Johnson the easiest ride he could hope for to a thumping Parliamentary majority.

Indeed, the 2019 election was a staggering instance of a battle of midgets: a clash between two men, Johnson and Corbyn, horribly alike in their sense of entitlement to high office, and equally similar in their unsuitability for it. Johnson was certainly the nastier of the two, but he was the less lamentable campaigner. So he won.

The question is what Britain had done to deserve two such deplorable leaders of its two main parties. Maybe it was Karma for Brexit.

Now, though, Labour has a real leader. He’s running circles around Johnson, whose flaws are at last being revealed for all to see.

Of course, the battle is by no means over. It’s four years until the next election. And the Conservative Party, though it’s short on principle, is very long on what it takes to win and hold power. The disquiet over Johnson in the Tory Party less than a year since he led them to spectacular success, suggests he won’t be leading them into the next election.

Who’ll take over? It’s impossible to guess. At the moment, the front runner is Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. But the Tory Party likes to destroy early front runners, and as the man in charge of the nation’s finances, Sunak has a bad time ahead – dealing with the economic impact of Covid and Brexit is likely to overwhelm him with bad press.

The encouraging sign for Labour? Starmer’s skill in dealing with Johnson suggests that he’ll cope with his successor too. Even a change in leader may not save the Tories at the next election.

Though Labourites need to remember that such a hope is only possible because, at last, we have a professional politician as leader.