The Political Survival Instinct from Margaret Thatcher to Boris Johnson
At Westminster, Boris Johnson, who accepted defeat in the fight with his side, said “the herd instinct is powerful and when the herd moves, it moves.” The British Prime Minister thus expressed frustration and anger at the premature collapse of his political project in the bitter revolt by the Conservative parliamentary group against his apparent lack of integrity and leadership skills, which culminated on 7 July.
Johnson was forced to resign from the leadership of the Tory Party and the UK government in the middle of his first term after losing the confidence of the majority of the 358 MPs with whom he shares benches in the House of Commons. Parliament of Westminster. He is another in the chain of conservative leaders who are losing the helm under the “Darwinian system” of renewal of “leaders equally committed to holding the reins of this country in difficult times,” as he stated in the resignation message. and farewell, which he delivered opposite the official residence in Downing Street
Others simply describe it as the Conservatives’ survival instinct, which kicks in as soon as MPs feel their seats are in jeopardy. Under Johnson’s leadership, the party recently suffered electoral defeats of exceptional proportions, even for contexts held in the middle of the legislature. The “herd instinct” called by the outgoing president was unleashed, which had already devastated his predecessors:
Theresa May fell, in June 2019, in the penultimate onslaught of the Eurosceptic rams. Johnson then led the rebel group from his initial position as Secretary of State and later from behind in the Conservative primary at Westminster. After he resigned from the executive in July of the following year, the now-decapitated leader gave oxygen to the party’s hard-core faction, unlike the European Union, which boycotted the first Brexit deal and subsequent pledges to the end. of May’s leadership. Johnson replaced him, backed by the same bloc of Eurosceptics.
David Cameron has also failed to complete the electoral mandate that he won by an absolute majority in 2015, against almost all predictions. In this case, his resignation as leader and head of government was a voluntary act, although the propensity for decline was essentially due to the ultra-anti-community tendency of the British right. Wanting to end the flight of conservative affiliates and voters to Nigel Farage’s ultra Eurosceptic and nationalist formation, the UKIP, Cameron agreed to call an EU referendum, which he took for granted. He was wrong and whistled farewell to the crowd as he returned to 10 Downing Street behind the backs of the television cameras, having accepted the defeat of the 2016 no-EU.
John Major lost the 1997 parliamentary election to Tony Blair’s New Labor avalanche. His defeat was probably inevitable after nearly twenty years of conservative rule. But Eurosceptic “bastards” — as the prime minister described opponents of the concessions he took from the EU during the Maastricht deal negotiations — ruined his political career and left the party in the doldrums for the next decade.
Margaret Thatcher gave the Conservatives three electoral victories, in 1979, 1983 and 1987, but the cabinet did not hesitate to intervene against the chief and prime minister when its members risked electoral defeat. Ministers persuaded him to resign in a move similar to the one in Downing Street this week. This time, Johnson has opted for a delayed-effect political death – aiming to hold on to power until the fall – to perhaps avoid shedding the tears the Iron Lady shed when she left Downing Street on November 29, 1990.
Source: La Verdad
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