London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Oct 19, 2025

‘Unfocused’ Boris Johnson adds to image of a government giving up

‘Unfocused’ Boris Johnson adds to image of a government giving up

Analysis: concerns of leadership vacuum unaided by senior ministers cancelling parliamentary committee appearances
It is the time of year when younger pupils celebrate the end of the school term by bringing a board game to the classroom, thoughts of any schoolwork abandoned. It would be unfair to say that exactly the same attitude prevails inside Downing Street, but you could be forgiven for seeing a similarity.

Boris Johnson has little more than six weeks left at No 10, and a consensus is building that, as prime minister, he has already checked out – beyond some energetic and last-minute attempts to polish his legacy.

The defining visual image of Johnson’s caretaker period seems likely to be his flight in an RAF Typhoon fighter jet, including a spell at the controls – a visit No 10 tried to insist was vital first-hand experience for the person in charge of the nation’s defences.

That excuse might have had more credence if Johnson had not skipped a series of emergency meetings about the heatwave, instead delivering a slightly eccentric speech to the Farnborough airshow.

The sense of a government gradually giving up has not been helped by three senior ministers, Priti Patel, Dominic Raab and Kwasi Kwarteng, calling off scheduled appearances before parliamentary committees at the last minute.

Those who have worked with Johnson say he is less lazy than unfocused. And he has been busy in recent days, but mainly with an almost Donald Trump-like battle to burnish his record.

As well as using his final Commons appearances as prime minister to stress what he called “very remarkable” achievements in office, Johnson’s final pre-recess task was to publish a 2,500-word written statement to parliament, defending his premiership in painstaking detail.

Those still working in Johnson’s government say the public impression bears little resemblance to what is happening inside government departments, even within the constraints of the convention for caretaker leaders to not make major policy changes, or commit to significant spending.

“Government hasn’t stopped,” an aide to a senior cabinet minister said. “There are still dozens of decisions to be made a day, some of them fairly major ones, about existing policies. And these have to be made by ministers, not civil servants. It doesn’t feel very different to me.”

Paul Harrison, who was press secretary for Theresa May, says this was also the case when her successor was being chosen: “Even when the caravan is very visibly moving on, and political authority is draining away, No 10 becomes less busy but it never becomes calm. There are still decisions that need to be taken to keep the government machine turning.”

Unlike Johnson, May’s caretaker period did not fall across the parliamentary recess and she was notably more visible than her successor, who is expected to spend much of his summer enjoying Chequers, the prime ministerial country retreat. May was, however, also a different character, one distinctly less likely to be seen attempting a barrel roll in an RAF fighter jet.

Towards the end of May’s time in office, “her diary was still full”, Harrison noted. “Downing Street reflects the personality of its occupant, sometimes in an almost absurdly magnified way. So it stayed busy, mainly because I think Theresa doesn’t know how to do jobs without being busy at them. What I saw of her as PM, she’s not terribly good at relaxing.”

The idea of a PM-as-caretaker between elections only emerged in 1976, when Harold Wilson decided to step down, with the conventions created more or less on the spot by Kenneth Stowe, Wilson’s principal private secretary, and Martin Charteris, then private secretary to the Queen.

Peter Hennessy, the constitutional historian and crossbench peer, calls this “a classic example of the British constitution having been knitted together for fresh contingencies”, but also an area where this is much personal leeway.

“As always with the British premiership, everything depends on the incumbent behaving well,” Hennessy said. “So if they want to have a bit of an away day for the last few weeks in No 10, there’s not much you can do to stop them.”

However, anyone worried about a vacuum in government should be reassured, he added, by the fact this caretaker period is not so different from what happens in the weeks after a general election is called, Hennessy added.

“The British system is quite good at going on to automatic pilot,” he said. “A career civil service does help.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
×