Boris Johnson gives up: overthrow of a populist

Boris Johnson is often placed in a row with politicians like Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro or Benjamin Netanyahu.

They are called populists because they claim to represent the true will of the people - against the "establishment" from which they mostly come.

Johnson, too, repeatedly referred to the will of the electorate.

In a democracy, that is fundamentally correct.

In this discursive form of government, however, power is also based on credibility.

If you lose one, you usually lose the other.

After all, Johnson saved the British from storming Parliament.

In the Shakespearean drama staged at Westminster, important institutional mechanisms still functioned.

The Prime Minister's lies and scandals were not swept under the rug.

Group and government procedures were followed.

The Conservatives accepted defeats in the recent by-elections as a major reason for rebelling against their own prime minister.

In the United States, this is no longer a matter of course, which shows that there is still a difference between the culture wars in America and political trench warfare in Europe.

No statesmanship

Johnson could have learned from the career of his great role model that it is not enough to master a historic feat in order to remain in office.

Churchill was voted out shortly after the end of World War II.

Johnson may have been the main architect of Brexit, but he has already fulfilled that role.

What else he takes credit for, such as the early corona vaccination campaign or support for Ukraine, are not outstanding statesmanlike achievements, but daily politics.

It went well at Johnson and not so well, just like in most countries.

In any case, the devastating character portrayed by the prime minister could no longer be corrected.

Even the British public, accustomed to upper-class escapades, rightly found it unreasonable

Britain will only know what leaving the EU really means for Britain many years after Johnson's departure.

The heated debates about Brexit, which were also being held in the rest of Europe, were mostly premature because many of the consequences of such a far-reaching structural change will only become noticeable in the medium to long term.

Nevertheless, some skepticism is appropriate, because the United Kingdom will hardly find the desired (old) size in the multipolar world as a lone wolf.

It is too weak for that, like the other European central powers.

The war in Ukraine shows who sets the tone.

The essential points are set in Washington, Brussels and Moscow, not in London.

False promises

Many false promises that Johnson and his fellow campaigners used to promote leaving the EU have already been unmasked.

The country's health service was not buoyed by money, nor was northern England's economic renaissance.

The fact that foreign trade is suffering and that the Northern Ireland Protocol is proving to be impractical only came as a surprise to the majority of Brits, who believed the Brexiteers' fairy tales.

Migration to the UK has at least decreased as desired, but there is now a shortage of labour.

One of the lessons of Brexit is that even the most enlightened society is not free from collective wishful thinking.

Not uncharacteristic of his time, Johnson has a tendency to back the state.

That doesn't fit with the conservatives' tradition of free-market economy, but with the recipes with which many Western governments have been trying for years to get their populations through constant new crises.

The expectation that politics will act as a repair shop for globalization will also resonate with the new British leadership.

Basically, Johnson's political actions were always characterized by the will to prove the success of Brexit.

If the next prime minister is someone who isn't under that much pressure, it could ease tensions in relations with the EU in particular.

It would be great progress.

Only Putin and his cronies have anything to do with disputes in Europe.

Even Labor has abandoned the goal of re-entry; it is unrealistic in the foreseeable future.

Holding the country together could be challenging enough.

Ultimately, the historic verdict on Johnson will also depend on whether his successors still govern the United Kingdom or just England.