London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Jul 20, 2026

Boris Johnson’s summer of fun: what has the PM been doing?

Boris Johnson’s summer of fun: what has the PM been doing?

The prime minister is still in office but you could be forgiven for thinking he has already left

In three weeks’ time, Boris Johnson will no longer be UK prime minister. But, as many have observed, you could be forgiven for thinking he had already left.

Despite the country being beset by a series of crises, from the mounting cost of living crisis to war in Ukraine, he has been accused of leading a “zombie” government.

So what exactly has he been doing?

June: the ‘summer sausage offensive’


In late June, and in an effort to save his own bacon, Johnsonembarked on a busy schedule of “barbecues and drinks” at his grace-and-favour residence, Chequers.

Described as a “summer sausage offensive”, the goal was to reward party loyalists who had promised to vote for him in the event of a no-confidence vote.

July: Sweet Caroline – and the Bamford wedding bash


Although that strategy failed, it didn’t deter him from hosting further parties. On July 25 he missed a Cobra meeting to discuss the heatwave to host a leaving bash attended by senior Tories including Nadine Dorries.

Labour accused Johnson of being “missing in action” as he “prepares to party while Britain boils”.

Johnson’s busy social calendar at Chequers was set to culminate in a “champagne-soaked soiree” in celebration of his one-year wedding anniversary – however he backed away from having it there amid rumours that the only reason he insisted on remaining in power over the summer was to keep access to the residence.

Recognising his travails, a major Tory donor, Lord Bamford, reportedly stepped in to offer up his 18th-century Cotswolds estate to host a lavish party.

The “festival-esque” celebration – said to have included a steel band, rum punch, Abba songs and a conga – on 30 July was intended to compensate for the scaled-back wedding Johnson and Carrie organised during the pandemic.

The guest list is understood to have presented a “headache” for the couple, with erstwhile allies having received save-the-date invitations a year before their subsequent betrayal.

A video of the Johnsons’ first dance – to the tune of Sweet Caroline – was leaked to the Tory-supporting political website Guido Fawkes.

“Some questionable dad dancing moves from Boris there,” was how the blog described the prime minister’s routine.

August: Mini-moon, ‘that’ meeting … and then to Greece


The wedding was followed by a “mini-moon”, a neologism coined to describe a second honeymoon usually taken immediately after a wedding and prior to a larger, more extravagant trip.

Johnson disappeared on 3 August, with the location undisclosed for security reasons, prompting speculation about where he was going and who was paying for it.

It later emerged he was staying at a five-star eco-hotel – Vila Planinka in the Slovenian mountains. It promises “healing energies” for its guests, with rooms costing between £242 and £541 a night. They have no electronic devices and wifi is available only upon request to enable people to “rest and unpack themselves from everyday worries” – possibly not the ideal setup for the leader of a country of 67 million people.

A Downing Street spokesperson refused to say if a Tory donor funded the trip, but insisted that no taxpayers’ money had been used.

After his return on 11 August, following pressure – including from the CBI chief executive – to introduce immediate support to households struggling with soaring energy bills, Johnson made headline-grabbing news: he turned up to a meeting.

However, hopes that one of his final appearances might produce a more compelling legacy than his ride in a Typhoon fighter jet to open Farnborough airshow on 18 July soon gave way to disappointment. Johnson declined to offer any new help on energy bills now, instead deferring responsibility to the new prime minister in September to provide extra financial support.

For those wondering whether Johnson had taken the ensuing backlash to heart, he was spotted on Sunday. Not in a Westminster backroom with his two potential successors thrashing out emergency relief, but rather on his second holiday in two weeks, filmed shopping for groceries in a supermarket in Greece.

Greek news websites reported that Johnson and his wife, Carrie, were in Nea Makri, a coastal town near Athens located a few hours away from where his father, Stanley, has a villa.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
London’s Housing Starts Collapse as Planning and Building Costs Stall Development
Charlie Sheen’s Daughter: "My Dad Didn’t Buy Me a House, My Breasts Bought It"
Vivienne Westwood Casts Cicciolina, 74, in Its New Autumn Campaign
Dejavu: Germany’s Military Expansion Reshapes Europe’s Strategic Balance With France
Tate Brothers Fight British Extradition Bid After Miami Arrests
Burnham Reshapes Britain’s Government Around Living Costs, Devolution and Security
Jingye Demands Full Compensation After Britain illegally Nationalized British Steel
Just Another Liar or a Robin Hood? Andy Burnham Pledges Cost-of-Living Help in First Speech as UK Prime Minister
Morgan Stanley Builds a Wall Street Lead in AI Infrastructure Finance
High Prices Push Coffee Drinkers Toward Whole Beans and Home Brewing
Trump Draws Boos and Podium Scrutiny at Spain’s World Cup Triumph
Brilliant move: Péter Magyar Moves to Nominate Chess Grandmaster Judit Polgár as Hungary’s President
Spain Defeats Argentina in Extra Time to Win Second World Cup
Police Block Cockroach Janta Party’s March to Parliament as Education Protests Intensify
Current AI Seeks to Build an Open Global AI Infrastructure Outside Big Tech Control
Turkey Explores S-400 Transfer to UAE in Bid to Rejoin F-35 Program
Josh Kerr Breaks Twenty-Seven-Year World Mile Record at London Diamond League
Thames Water Crisis Deepens as South East Water Outages Hit Thousands in Kent
EU Ban on Destroying Unsold Clothing Forces British Fashion Brands to Change Operations
UK Government Confirms Existing North Sea Oil and Gas Licences Will Be Honoured
UK Covid Inquiry Finds Nearly Ten Billion Pounds Lost in Pandemic Protective Equipment Procurement
Thames Water Moves Toward Possible Temporary Nationalisation Amid Rescue Plan Dispute
Andy Burnham Cancels One Point Eight Billion Pound Digital ID Programme After Taking Office
UK Government Takes British Steel Into Full Public Ownership to Protect Jobs and Supply Chains
Andy Burnham Becomes UK Prime Minister and Pledges Focus on Living Costs and Public Services
Germany’s Economic Malaise Reopens the Sunday Shopping Debate
Singapore Considers Lower Taxes for Fund Managers as Hong Kong Intensifies Talent Contest
US Retaliates Against Iran After Two American Troops Killed in Jordan
Bank of Asia BVI Enters Court-Supervised Liquidation After Regulators Find It Insolvent
Proposed U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Pact Could Permit Limited Uranium Enrichment Under International Safeguards
Netherlands Declares Water Shortage Emergency After Drought Pushes Rivers to Historic Lows
Why Kentucky Fried Chicken Became KFC—and Why the False Explanations Persist
Iran Claims It Destroyed Bahrain’s Main Artificial Intelligence Center in Missile and Drone Strike
Ukrainian Drones Strike Wildberries Warehouses Deep Inside Russia
Brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate Who Turned "Toxic Masculinity" Into a Brand Arrested in Miami as Britain Seeks Their Extradition
Reported CIA Mission Helped Clear the UAE’s Path to Advanced US AI Chips
Artificial Intelligence Capital Fuels Markets While Governments and Regulators Face Mounting Strategic Tests
China’s Moonshot’s Kimi K3 Narrows the Gap With Anthropic Through Scale, Openness and Lower Cost
Gold and Cash Seizure Puts Indonesia’s Senior Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Under Investigation
The Ledger Will Not Trust on Faith
Bank of England Warns Climate Shocks Could Trigger Sudden Asset Repricing
UK Treasury Places Microsoft, Google, AWS and Oracle Under New Financial Resilience Rules
Scottish Government Faces Pressure Over Delays in Vulnerable Group Background Checks
Crown Prosecution Service Authorises Additional Charges Against Andrew and Tristan Tate
NHS Approves At-Home Cancer Treatments for Rare Blood Disorders
Bank of England Gains Oversight of Major Cloud Providers Supporting UK Financial System
UK Government Plans Major Overhaul of English Local Councils Through New Unitary Authorities
British Steel Nationalisation Dispute Escalates as Chinese Owner Jingye Seeks Compensation
Bank of England Signals Interest Rates Will Stay High as It Warns of Financial Risks From Climate and AI
Trump Administration Pressures Banks to Restrict Financial Access for Undocumented Immigrants
×