William Atkinson

Boris Johnson should quit now to save his career

The Prime Minister stands a chance of making a comeback but only if he walks away now

The greased piglet will soon be sausages. That, at least, seems the obvious outcome of this week’s Tory party confidence vote. With over 40 per cent of his MPs in open revolt against him, even Boris Johnson, the great political escapologist, is running out of road. He may have survived now. But with two by-election losses looming in the Red and Blue Walls, a cost-of-living crisis spiralling out of control, and MPs manoeuvring against him, this reprieve looks temporary.

The Conservative party has still not entirely recovered from Margaret Thatcher’s defenestration 30-odd years ago, and nobody would want to repeat the six months of agony and the electoral shellacking that it finally took for Theresa May to go. Least of all, surely, Johnson himself. The author of The Churchill Factor should know that staggering on with a party and country against him will hardly make for the best material for future historians.

But Johnson has another option: to resign. He may wish to fight on, but he shall be doing so on the stickiest wicket. By contrast, resigning would allow him to be the master of his own destiny. He would give himself the greatest chance of both ensuring his premiership gets the best reputation possible, and of building up support for a return to the top. After all, it was Churchill who said that history would be kind to him, for he intended to write it – and even Johnson can’t write and govern.

Imagine what Johnson would do if he resigned

Imagine what Johnson would do if he resigned. He could finally finish his long-promised Shakespeare book, plugging a hole in his finances while reminding the public he wasn’t always just a politician. He can ditch his relatively small prime ministerial salary and resume his column at the Daily Telegraph. He can churn out a bestselling memoir or two, giving his take on the last few years.

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