Outgoing British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson could be hired by the “Daily Mail” – and thus become influential required reading
Will Boris Johnson, Britain’s outgoing Prime Minister, join the Daily Mail?
© Stefan Rousseau/ / Picture Alliance
Boris Johnson’s days as Prime Minister of Britain are numbered. What comes next? Possibly the return to his old profession – which promises great influence.
The “Daily Telegraph” proudly presented the “big Boris Johnson archive” when he was about to take over the office of Prime Minister in Great Britain in the summer of 2019.
With his regular column for the British daily newspaper, he “spoiled” the readers, it said, no opinion of a modern politician is better known than his. And what hasn’t he put down on paper in his almost three decades of work for the newspaper: a passionate plea for the Saving the African Elephant for example, or a thoughtful text about the retreat of the otter.
Of course, he also wrote about politics – when he wasn’t speaking up about criminal cases or cultural events in the United Kingdom. His interjections often became a source of controversy, the Telegraph noted. with satisfaction. Henceforth gathered in “Best of Boris”a major review of his released works.
Rather read between the lines: The fact that the journalist Boris Johnson became the top politician Boris Johnson, even Prime Minister of Great Britain, is also due to the “Telegraph”.
And in a way there might be something to it. Nicknamed the Torygraph for its unwavering support for the Conservative Party sold around 320,000 copies at the time, making it the second largest quality newspaper in the country (behind The Times). Johnson’s texts, in which he often placed his political standpoints, reached a correspondingly large number of readers from the conservative electorate.
His last column for the paper appeared three days before he was appointed prime minister: In it he conjured up Great Britainto show a spirit of optimism like the USA at the time of the moon landing – in order to get Brexit done.
So it was an arrangement from which both sides benefited and which the “Telegraph” probably paid a lot for: Johnson is said to have recently received £275,000 (around 325,000 euros) for his services, working ten hours a month.
But that was all a long time ago, circumstances have changed. Since the “Partygate” affair, even the “Telegraph” has distanced itself from its one-time darling, who is now having to resign as prime minister. Johnson’s Salary will be halved to 84,000 pounds (around 99,000 euros)., in future he will only be paid for his services as a “Member of Parliament” and no longer for his work as head of government. The outgoing prime minister must also move out of his office at 10 Downing Street.
Against this background, there is a lot of speculation in Great Britain as to what Johnson’s next job could be. And there may even be signs of a comeback in journalism.
Will Boris Johnson join the Daily Mail?
The “Daily Mail” apparently wants to win Johnson as a columnist, he reports “Guardians” and cites several sources within the newspaper. Downing Street declined to comment that a request to the Conservative tabloid went unanswered. What is certain is that cooperation could be beneficial for both sides.
The “Daily Mail” would attract a well-known author with the best connections to Westminster and world politics. And to a certain extent know they have a friend in their ranks: For weeks, the rumor has persisted that Johnson also wants to nominate Paul Dacre, the newspaper’s former editor-in-chief, for the British House of Lords (Read more about this here). Members of the Chamber of Parliament receive titles of nobility and privileges, but also have some political influence.
A so-called lord who acts in the spirit of Johnson during his term of office (which lasts until the end of his life) should definitely please the outgoing prime minister. In any case, that is not completely absurd: In the past few weeks, the “daily mail” once again sided with the scandal-plagued prime minister, defended him in the “Partygate” affair, and took a tough stance on Tory politicians who sharply criticized Johnson.
When Johnson was eventually ousted as party leader, and consequently announced his gradual withdrawal from the post of prime minister, the newspaper spoke to the effect of the day the Conservatives lost their minds. The front-page headline: “What the hell have they done?”
And then there’s Liz Truss, Johnson’s Secretary of State and aspiring to succeed him. She also defends the breakdown premier to the point of self-abandonment according to recent polls as the clear favorite in the duel against ex-finance minister Rishi Sunak – who decidedly sang the farewell to Johnson and has since been subjected to all sorts of abuse from those close to the prime minister. Not infrequently spread via the “Daily Mail”, which has clearly sided with Truss in the “Leadership Race”, they promise something “breath of fresh air” for politics.
Johnson, should he become a tabloid columnist, could continue to write this narrative and with his lyrics, that would reach millions of conservatives across the country, have a wordy influence on the fortunes of Westminster. He may no longer be prime minister – but still make headlines.