Back To Journalism, UK Ex-PM Boris Johnson Faces New Charge

International

oi-Sanjeev Nayak

Days after quitting as MP, former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has returned to journalism. He has joined the ‘right-leaning’ Daily Mail newspaper as a columnist. This marks his return to journalism, having previously written for various British publications. Daily Mail even ran a trailer video describing him as “erudite new columnist” who will be “required reading in Westminster.”

58-year-old Johnson, who stepped down as a lawmaker last week over an inquiry which found him guilty of deliberately misleading Parliament over parties during COVID-19 lockdowns, will write for the Daily Mail every Saturday. “Whether you’re a Boris fan or not, it’s going to be required reading — both in Westminster and for millions across the world,” the trailer said.

In the video promoting his hire, Johnson said, “The column is going to be exactly what I think. I may even have to cover politics — but I will obviously try to do that as little as possible, unless I absolutely have to.”

Johnson started his journalistic career with Times, but was sacked for making up a quote. He went on to join Daily Telegraph where, as a Brussels correspondent, he used to lambast the European Union. He later pursued parallel media and political careers as editor of the Spectator magazine. Even after elected as an MP, he wrote a regular column for Daily Telegraph, before becoming PM.

No stranger to scandal, Johnson has however been accused of a new breach for taking up the columnist job without waiting for required ethics vetting. Nine months after he left the premiership, his ethics record is causing renewed trouble for the ruling Conservative Party, divided over whether to endorse the committee findings.

The committee of law makers, which has a Conservative majority, said he should have been suspended from the Parliament had he not quit as a lawmaker last week. He called it a “political assassination”, in a blistering resignation statement in which he also appeared to take swipes at incumbent Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Ministers and civil servants who leave office are required to consult an ethics body, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), before taking up new jobs. It said Johnson had committed a new breach by failing to give it proper notice.

“The Ministerial Code states that Ministers must ensure that no new appointments are announced, or taken up, before the Committee has been able to provide its advice,” it said in a statement. “An application received 30 minutes before an appointment is announced is a clear breach,” it added.

ACOBA has no enforcement powers, but a new breach of rules could make it harder for Johnson to mount a political comeback.

According to a source, Johnson will earn a “very-high six-figure sum” to write the column in Daily Mail. Though editors at the newspaper may not be universally overjoyed at the news of their new star columnist, the new gig will provide him a platform to critique Sunak, now his bitter rival.

Story first published: Monday, June 19, 2023, 13:01 [IST]