Britain’s imperial prime minister
Boris Johnson is busy accumulating power in Number 10
THE EMPEROR NERO was reportedly in the habit of dipping dissidents in tar and using them to light his dinner parties. Boris Johnson has not so far shown an inclination to use his ministers as human torches, but there is nevertheless something imperial about his progress. He dispenses with colleagues with a chilling nonchalance. He barrels into prime minister’s questions every Wednesday, his shirt-tail flapping behind him, to the cheers of the massed Tory benches. A recent cabinet meeting opened with a bizarre call-and-response chant, with the prime minister bellowing a series of questions—“How many hospitals are we going to build?” and so on—and ministers replying in unison.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “The imperial prime minister”
Britain February 22nd 2020
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