The U.K. Opposition Is Underestimating Boris Johnson

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson sits on a chair after bilateral talks during the G7 summit in Biarritz, France August 26, 2019.Neil Hall/Pool / Reuters

Benjamin Mueller, National Post/New York Times: With Brexit gambit, Boris Johnson revealed not as a buffoon but a ruthless tactician

President Donald Trump applauded Johnson, calling him on Twitter 'exactly what the U.K. has been looking for'.

Boris Johnson hurtled to the top of British politics with an air of charm and disarrayed befuddlement. He slipped into Latin and Greek, changed sides when it suited his ambitions and oozed a mischievous bravado, as when he put his foot on a table at the French president’s palace last week.

But Johnson’s decision on Wednesday to cut short a session of Parliament revealed another side: the ruthless tactician who took office as prime minister this summer. With Brexit hanging in the balance, Johnson marshaled all the power of Downing Street to cut out the legs of a wobbly opposition, risking a constitutional crisis to get what he has promised.

Suddenly the man affectionately known as “BoJo” was being rebranded by some opponents a “tin-pot dictator.” And President Donald Trump, known for his own norm-smashing maneuvers, applauded Johnson, calling him on Twitter “exactly what the U.K. has been looking for.”

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WNU Editor: After a referendum where a majority of the people in the U.K. made a decision to leave the EU, followed by three years of non-stop negotiations/discussions/delays/etc. where it was clear from this observer that the political establishment in the U.K. were not really interested in making Brexit happen, Boris Johnson has changed all of that in the past two months. And the momentum is clearly on his side, otherwise the opposition to leaving the EU and to him would not be as galvanized as they are today. My prediction. The opposition to him will become even more fierce as the date to leave the EU fast approaches. And I do not think the opposition will succeed. They underestimated Boris Johnson, taking for granted that he will fail while feeling confident that the entire Brexit issue would fade away and/or be controlled and dictated by them. This has been a miscalculation. They do not have the votes to stop him, and coupled with the EU's determination to not compromise has only resulted in solidifying Boris Johnson's base while making him more determine to make Brexit happen. He also has time on his side, or more to the point, time is running out for the opposition. Brexit is two months away, and unless there is a rebellion in the Tory coalition, this divorce is going to happen.