London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Jun 30, 2025

Britain is entering a postwar reckoning and Boris Johnson needs a vision for the future

Britain is entering a postwar reckoning and Boris Johnson needs a vision for the future

The Prime Minister needs to develop a vision equally for solving the major problems that lie ahead in the next decade.
Prime ministers all face a critical moment: before it, they can do little wrong; after it, almost nothing right. For John Major it was Black Wednesday in September 1992; for Gordon Brown, ducking a general election in the autumn of 2007; while for Theresa May, the disastrous election in June 2017. Boris Johnson has yet to pass his point of no return. But it is stealing up on him.

The coronavirus pandemic is the most serious challenge to a British government since 1945. The shock of Brexit, even if a deal is secured, will intensify it. The best prime ministers throughout history rose to their challenges and took control. Johnson has yet to do so.

The closest historical analogy to the present is 1940-50, which equally presented two challenges: winning the war, and winning the peace. The first was primarily the task of Winston Churchill, the second, Clement Attlee, who planned Britain’s reconstruction during the war, and oversaw the rebuilding of the country and its place in the world after it.

Churchill provided the vision for the war, Attlee for the peace. Johnson has yet to provide such vision, both for how coronavirus can best be handled, and how Britain will succeed in the 2020s and 2030s.

Instead, the country has heard about what the Prime Minister and his chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, are against. They are against the European Union. They are against the civil service, the judiciary, the BBC, universities, and status quo thinking.

But what do they stand for? Where are the values and the vision around which the country can unite?

Cummings is intellectually brilliant. He reformed schools for the better with Michael Gove as education secretary after 2010. More than anyone, he made Brexit happen, masterminded Johnson’s election victory in December 2019 and then oversaw his first months in office.

Prime ministers need such figures. Margaret Thatcher had Alfred Sherman and John Hoskyns. David Cameron had Steve Hilton. But the figures who bring a prime minister to power and define their agenda are often not the ones they need once securely in government. Cummings has many qualities, but building the consensus leaders need for enabling political change is not one. Increasingly voices on the right are asking if he has fulfilled his historic mission.

At the heart of the success of Britain’s political weather-makers – William Pitt the Younger, William Gladstone, David Lloyd George, Attlee, Thatcher and Tony Blair – has been a vision, grounded in the art of the possible.

Johnson needs to find his vision now for Britain, for Covid-19 and beyond, with three requirements: consistency, consensus and competence. I’m not one to condemn all the government has done: Matt Hancock is not the only minister who has performed much better than credited. But Johnson himself needs to lead more effectively. Allegra Stratton, the new Downing Street spokesperson, cannot do it for him: this new position will merely cast an even stronger spotlight on him.

Coronavirus will only be dealt with effectively if Johnson reaches out to the devolved nations, to elected mayors, to the Labour and Liberal parties. The historian Peter Hennessy – the David Attenborough of the British constitution, part Prophet Isaiah, part restyled Walter Bagehot for the digital age – is convinced that only a cross-party approach to government will carry the country.

Johnson lost political traction in May when Cummings’s infamous trip to Durham was revealed. A coalition government, as I argued at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, would have made sense constitutionally because historically Britain convenes them during major crises. But the moment for a coalition government, or even a cross-party cabinet committee, has passed, which makes it all the more necessary for Johnson to reach out to other parties.

Handling Covid-19 so it minimises the damage to public health, and maximises the potential economic recovery, is Johnson’s first great historic mission.

The second is to provide a vision for the post-Covid future. We need to hear a compelling story about Britain after Brexit, and how leaving the EU will improve the country economically and politically. Within the EU for more than 45 years, Britain rose to become one of the biggest economies in the world, from the sick man of Europe to the world’s number-one soft power. How will Brexit give all Britons a much better future, while keeping the UK together?

Johnson needs to develop a vision equally for solving the major problems that lie ahead in the next decade: on artificial intelligence and producing the jobs to employ the nation, modernising an education system that is equipping young people for yesterday‘s world, creating a greener Britain, and resolving the crisis in social care.

The tone of his premiership needs addressing. Diverse people have begun speaking about the bullying and fear emanating from his regime; concerns not heard since Brown was PM – an under-praised premiership damaged by the prime minister’s failure to establish the right tone.

Winning the war and winning the peace requires negativity to be replaced by a positive vision, grounded on a huge output of hard work, as Whitehall produced during the Second World War. Whitehall will rise again to the challenge, if it has the political leadership.

Lloyd George failed after the First World War to provide that leadership, and was mired in controversy before he was bundled out of office in 1922. This, too, could be Johnson’s fate in 2022. In contrast, Attlee, with dignity and proficiency, put the country back together again after 1945.

Johnson has the knowledge of history, the intellect and the ability to inspire. But he can also be tribal and petty. He has earned the democratic right with his large majority to lead the country over the next four years. It is in the interest of all that Boris Johnson looks deep into himself and provides the leadership the country so desperately needs.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
Trump Administration Considers Withdrawal of Funding for Hospitals Providing Gender Treatment to Minors
Texas Enacts Law Allowing Gold and Silver Transactions
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
OpenAI Secures Multimillion-Dollar AI Contracts with Pentagon, India, and Grab
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Elon Musk Critiques Senate Budget Proposal Over Job Losses and Strategic Risks
Los Angeles Riots ended with Federal Investigations into Funding
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Lavish Wedding in Venice
Russia Launches Largest Air Assault on Ukraine Since Invasion
Education Secretary Announces Overhaul of Complaints System Amid Rising Parental Grievances
Massive Anti-Government Protests Erupt in Belgrade
Trump Ends Trade Talks with Canada Over Digital Services Tax
UK Government Softens Welfare Reform Plans Amid Labour Party Rebellion
Labour Faces Rebellion Over Disability Benefit Reforms Ahead of Key Vote
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Host Lavish Wedding in Venice Amid Protests
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
North Korea to Open New Beach Resort to Boost Tourism Economy
UK Labour Party Faces Internal Tensions Over Welfare Reforms
Andrew Cuomo Hints at Potential November Comeback Amid Democratic Primary Results
Curtis Sliwa Champions His Vision for New York City Amid Rising Crime Concerns
Federal Reserve Proposes Changes to Capital Rule Affecting Major Banks
EU TO HUNGARY: LET THEM PRIDE OR PREP FOR SHADE. ORBÁN TO EU: STAY IN YOUR LANE AND FIX YOUR OWN MESS.
Trump Escalates Criticism of Media Over Iran Strike Coverage
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
Big Four Accounting Firms Fined in Exam Cheating Scandal
NATO Members Agree to 5% Defense Spending Target by 2035
Australia's Star Casino Secures $195 Million Rescue Package Amid Challenges
UK to Enhance Nuclear Capabilities with Acquisition of F-35A Fighter Jets
Russian Shadow Payments via Cryptocurrency Reach $9 Billion
Explosions Rock Doha as Iranian Missiles Target Qatar
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Macron and Merz: Europe must arm itself in an unstable world
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
×