The dysfunction in Downing Street continues to distract our politicians from what really matters.
While ordinary people worry about how they are going to afford their energy bills and stretch their household budgets to cope with the cost of living crisis, the Conservative party is still eating itself alive over Partygate.
Their self-indulgent squabbling has real-life consequences.
For as long as the party is in paralysis, umming and ahhing over what to do about boozer-in-chief Boris Johnson, the public are left wondering who – if anybody – is actually in charge.
Are there any grown-ups in the room?
It certainly doesn’t feel like it.
And now, according to a new book by Lord Ashcroft, it is the Prime Minister’s wife, Carrie Johnson, who holds all the power.
The (definitely unauthorised) biography of Carrie Johnson, which has been serialised in the Daily Mail, makes a number of claims.
The conclusion it draws is that Carrie Johnson wields too much influence over her husband. Where have we heard that before?
She is blamed for, among other things, the Downing Street flat scandal, the Partygate scandal and the decision to evacuate animals from the Nowzad charity from Kabul.
The tabloids, naturally, have had a field day.
While I’ve no doubt Carrie’s an awful human being, this enthusiasm to assign blame to the woman in any situation – rather than the man with decades of deceit, viciousness & incompetence under his belt who’s in the position of power – is contemptible. pic.twitter.com/eh8NhSCIhl
— Nick Pettigrew (@Nick_Pettigrew) February 4, 2022
For them, it’s a juicy addition to the Tory psychodrama.
And she’s been compared to Lady Macbeth and dubbed ‘Carrie Antoinette’ in the press.
PM’s allies in defence of Carrie Johnson
Because they’ve nothing better to do and the Ukraine crisis will probably sort itself out, allies of the Prime Minister have made it their mission to root out this awful sexism in public life.
Many have taken to the airwaves to denounce the “misogyny’’ that Carrie has suffered at the hands of “bitter ex advisors’’.
Look, many things can be true at once.
The idea that Carrie Johnson is a puppet master pulling the strings of her hapless husband is clearly daft.
And her tabloid casting as the wicked witch of Westminster is clearly sexist.
The fear that she might be using her charms to manipulate Boris Johnson is something that would never even be considered with a female Prime Minister and a male spouse.
But I’m struggling to sustain any genuine outrage about this.
Annoyance, yes.
A fleeting eye-roll at the tired sexism of the press, yes.
But outrage? No.
Probably, because I’ve already used up my remaining reserves of fury on this arrogant, out-of-touch, rule-breaking government and Prime Minister.
Conservatives only care about sexism when it suits them
What has been interesting to note is the very specific circumstances in which the Conservative party is worried about sexism.
They certainly don’t seem to worry about it in their policy-making.
Their austerity agenda disproportionately falls on the shoulders of women.
The two-child cap for tax credits and the repugnant rape clause has left women facing the most unbearable of choices.
They only worry about sexism when it is politically convenient for them to do so.
Spokesperson for Carrie Johnson- “She is a private individual who plays no role in government”
Boris Johnson- “I believed implicitly that this was a work event”
This photo means at least one of the above statements isn’t true pic.twitter.com/Diw9lRWJGV
— Justin Madders MP (@justinmadders) February 7, 2022
Ironically, some of the allegations made against Carrie are actually a warped defence of Boris Johnson’s many failures as Prime Minister.
Lord Ashcroft insists that Carrie Johnson’s “behaviour’’ is “preventing him from leading Britain as effectively as the voters deserve”.
This wild claim goes hand-in-hand with another: that Boris Johnson would be a great Prime Minister if only he was still with his former wife, a more ‘’maternal’’ figure who knew how to manage him better.
Give me a break.
Boris Johnson wanted the title of PM, he just didn’t want the responsibility
Can we stop infantilising Boris Johnson?
He is a 57 year old man and the Prime Minister of our country.
He always wanted the top job and he fought, back-stabbed and clambered over his opponents to get it.
Boris Johnson is not failing at it because there is a nagging woman in his ear giving him the wrong advice.
He’s not failing because he’s been led astray by a manipulative woman who doesn’t have his best interests at heart.
He is failing because, despite yearning to become Prime Minister, his ambition never went beyond winning that prize.
He wanted to be Prime Minister because he likes shiny baubles and the sound of applause.
Boris Johnson has shown over many decades in public life that he feels duty only to himself.
He is a deeply selfish, unserious man who lies with ease and is allergic to apologies.
He isn’t constrained by the usual boundaries of morality.
And he prefers to slither away from his mistakes rather than take responsibility for them.
This disgrace is all his own doing
It’s no surprise that he has managed to squander an all-powerful 80-seat majority and reverse his fortunes so spectacularly, to the point where his time as Prime Minister looks like it is nearing its end.
And it’s no surprise that ultimately, it is his selfishness and irresponsibility that will be his likely downfall.
We don’t need to make up fairy tales to excuse this Prime Minister’s ineptitude.
We don’t need to cast around for alternative villain or a convenient scapegoat.
Carrie Johnson is not the cause of this Prime Minister’s unforced errors.
They are all his own.
When he leaves Downing St for the last time as Prime Minister it will be in disgrace.
And it will be entirely his own doing.
