The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

The cringe of Boris Johnson

Analysis by
Reporter
Updated July 7, 2022 at 7:43 a.m. EDT|Published July 7, 2022 at 12:00 a.m. EDT
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson departs 10 Downing Street in London on July 6. (Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg News)
6 min

This story has been updated.

For years, Boris Johnson’s superpower was his lack of shame. The British prime minister first gained mainstream attention years ago as a punching bag for comedians on a satirical, anti-establishment panel show. Later, accusations of cronyism, corruption, incompetence and infidelity fell beside his meteoric political rise like water off a duck’s back.