It’s too early to write off Boris Johnson, but the prime minister is definitely on the ropes
The contrast between the upbeat tone of the prime minister’s new year message and the political cloud hanging over him as he goes into 2022 could not be starker. Boris Johnson said Britain is in an “incomparably better” state in the fight against Covid than it was at the start of 2021; thanks to the scientific research that produced a vaccine in less than a year, that is certainly true.
But Johnson begins the new year as an irrevocably weakened political figure, his poll ratings significantly down from a year ago, his authority within his own parliamentary party eroded. Just two years after winning a decisive parliamentary majority of 80, this will be the year that requires him to fight for his survival.