Johnson’s lockdown U-turn further weakens his leadership

Boris Johnson survived a two-hour ordeal facing 100 questions in the House of Commons on Monday and MPs will on Wednesday vote overwhelmingly in favour of a second national coronavirus lockdown. But after weeks spent sneering at Labour leader Keir Starmer's call for a lockdown, the prime minister's abrupt U-turn has seen a further weakening of his authority that could mark a turning point in his leadership.

Conservative MPs, many of whom are deeply unhappy both about the decision and the way it was leaked to the press at the weekend, kept their anger in check in the chamber on Monday. Johnson’s promise that the lockdown will end on December 2nd with a vote for MPs on what happens next should help to diminish the size of the backbench rebellion on Wednesday.

But nothing could obscure the contrast between Johnson’s awkward, defensive demeanour at the despatch box and Starmer’s buoyant air as he reminded the prime minister of his failure in dealing with the pandemic.

Business closures

“The central lesson from the first wave of this virus is that if you don’t act early and decisively, the cost will be far worse,” he said.

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“More people will lose their jobs, more businesses will be forced to close and, tragically, more people will lose their loved ones. The prime minister and the chancellor failed to learn this lesson.”

Labour is now targeting chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak, the government's most popular figure, in an effort to tether him to Johnson's failure. The party is level with the Conservatives in some polls and ahead in others and Starmer's personal approval rating is far ahead of Johnson's.

Reform UK

In more bad news for the prime minister, Nigel Farage has decided to rebrand his Brexit Party as Reform UK, focusing on opposing the coronavirus lockdown. The party will continue to campaign on Brexit as well as "the House of Lords, the BBC, the way we vote, law and order, immigration, to name but a few" and will seek to outflank the Conservatives on the right on culture war issues like statues and the singing of patriotic songs at the Last Night of the Proms.

Although Farage says his party will stand candidates in next May’s local elections, it is unlikely to have much electoral success under the first-past-the-post system. But even if Reform UK only polls in single digits, it will cut into the Conservatives’ opinion poll numbers, undermining morale among backbenchers who thought their mood could go no lower.