With Boris Johnson's withdrawal, the United Kingdom is saying goodbye to the emotionally charged post-Brexit phase.

Whoever the Conservative Party chooses to succeed him in the coming weeks or months will be someone who is no longer as personally connected to the "project" as the man some have dubbed the father of Brexit.

This sounds like good news for relations between Great Britain and the European Union.

It will be easier for the continent's heads of government to ease tensions with a prime minister they do not personally despise.

The next government in London is likely to be less scrupulous about emphasizing the merits of Brexit, and the European Union will no longer have to retaliate in the same way.

But that doesn't change the fact that the British continue to view the European Union differently than most continental Europeans.

The undeniable downsides of Brexit – especially the trade losses due to the new bureaucracy and the often petty regulated visa requirements – have left their mark, but have not generated any significant reversal sentiment.

For many Britons, it is still more important that the nation is once again the master of political processes, that those responsible for unpopular decisions can be held accountable, and that immigration can be shaped in their own interests.

Neither seduced nor cheated

The much-quoted prognosis by pro-Europe Tory veteran Michael Heseltine that “if Boris goes, Brexit goes” describes at best a point in the future.

Labor leader Keir Starmer, once a staunch opponent of leaving the EU, has just drawn the line under the debate.

Like the Tories, he wants to make the best of Brexit if he takes power.

It cannot be ruled out that this will eventually lead to a rapprochement with the European single market, but Brussels should not expect an application for full membership in the foreseeable future.

The relative sustainability of the Brexit decision suggests the nation was not seduced and betrayed six years ago.

Rather, Johnson bundled a need for change that had grown from below and gave it political assertiveness.

Johnson's idea of ​​"taking along" the many dissatisfied and giving them a new home in the big tent of the Conservative Party was interpreted by many as populism.

But it was also an attempt to build bridges in a deeply divided society and to reintegrate those who no longer felt they belonged into the democratic process.

It has already been forgotten that not so long ago the chauvinist “United Kingdom Independence Party” under Nigel Farage emerged as the strongest political force from the European elections.

Today, after three years of Johnson, Britain is one of the few Western countries where the traditional party system is intact and not threatened by extreme fringes.

Johnson made many mistakes

His brilliant election victory in December 2019 gave Johnson the chance to use Brexit as a starting point for far-reaching reforms and to transform the country.

He could have smoothed out the striking north-south divide, renewed institutions and created a new sense of togetherness.

It is unfortunate not only for him that this opportunity was given away.

In large part, Johnson did this on himself;

he made many mistakes and trusted too much to be allowed to get away with his sloppiness, not least his careless handling of the truth.

A bit of bad luck was also involved, because first the pandemic and then the Ukraine war dictated other priorities.

But his opponents, who did not fight him so much as a political rival, but also as a monstrous threat that had to be got rid of by all means, also played a significant role in Johnson's failure.

Many are still not satisfied.

"It's not until a stake is pierced through his heart that we can be sure he's gone," a columnist wrote in the Times on Friday.

Johnson's forced departure can be celebrated as a triumph of honorable political virtues over a self-important Sun King.

But his departure also means a loss of experimentation, openness, originality - and friction.

With Johnson, a man with healthy freedom reflexes is stepping down, one of the most unorthodox and courageous heads of government in the western world.

That's not just a reason to breathe a sigh of relief.