When Boris Johnson finally achieved his life-long ambition of becoming the U.K. Prime Minister, U.S. President Donald Trump described him as “a good man” who will achieve “tremendous things”. Mr. Trump also pointed out that many people call Mr. Johnson “Britain Trump, which they say is a good thing”. I suppose one should feel glad that Mr. Trump explained that because, left unexplained, that comparison could be seen as an insulting epithet. But let’s leave aside the jokes and examine the very different routes by which each man has managed to capture the top political post of his country.
Journey to the top
Donald Trump could never have occupied the top post leading a European style political party in government. That would have involved some kind of a career, politicking and manoeuvering within a party. It would have involved giving at least lip service to the idea of working in a team of equals, one or the other of whom at some point could be appointed leader of the team. It would probably have meant letting someone else have a go at the top job and waiting for him or her to fail before vying for the captaincy. All this would have been impossible for Mr. Trump. The only route he had to the presidency was from almost outside the Republican Party, by convincing a confused Conservative conglomeration that it was a good idea for him to jump the queue. The only way he could do it was through a mixture of repeated monumental lies, luck, bluster, and the disgust that he had built up towards Hillary Clinton which allowed him to win despite getting three million fewer votes.
Boris Johnson could never have won a ‘presidential’ style election in the U.K. Even the Tory Party that has now inserted him into 10 Downing Street would never have had the temerity to present a man like Mr. Johnson to the larger voting public as their presidential candidate. Had they been foolhardy enough, Mr. Johnson’s gloriously sorry record would have been torn apart by his opponents, not least his disastrous tenure as Mayor of London. The only way Mr. Johnson could move his way into the Prime Minister’s post was by hunting down and killing every scruple and principle he could find, by taking shameless U-turns on positions, by back-stabbing almost every politician he allied with, and, like Mr. Trump, through luck, a matching lack of principle and moral courage on the part of his party leadership, and by constantly deploying a series of whopping lies.
Through quite different alchemies of chance, pusillanimity and mendacity, two wealthy white men, both fanatically devoted only to furthering their own ambitions, both with serious track records of espousing deeply racist, colonialist and misogynist views, both unbelievably blind and uncaring to the real problems facing their own people and the world, are now in charge of two of the most powerful countries on the planet. There are other men controlling other large nations who can run them very close — Vladimir Putin is certainly the current, long-standing champion — but there can be no two world leaders more dishonest, more anti-democratic and more contemptuous of human rights than Mr. Trump and Mr. Johnson.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Johnson are getting to paw the steering levers of nations that are not only rich and powerful, but that also claim leadership on democracy, human rights and social justice. So, do we now write off the U.S. and the U.K. in these terms? I think not. In fact, with Mr. Johnson’s entry into Downing Street, things get really interesting. We must remember that the U.S. and the U.K. have never been morally irreproachable. The point about the two countries was never about who’s in power but the checks and balances these flawed democracies managed to impose on their demi-despotic, skullduggerous leaders and power systems, about how the people managed to effect the ouster of various Presidents and Prime Ministers.
The obstacle course
Even as Mr. Johnson puts his Cabinet in place, former special counsel Robert Mueller underwent a grilling by the U.S. Congress. Though Republicans are trying to put a fantastical spin on his testimony, what has been made clear by the dignified and clearly spoken Mr. Mueller is that Mr. Trump has neither been cleared of collusion with agents of the Russian state or, equally damningly, of obstructing Mr. Mueller’s investigation. Both are impeachable offences and Mr. Trump might yet be the first U.S. President after Richard Nixon to be forced to leave office for serious breaches of the law.
Mr. Johnson was greeted by a terse message from the President of the European Union who he will be dealing with over Brexit: “Dear Mr. Johnson, On behalf of the European Council I would like to congratulate you on your appointment as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I look forward to meeting you to discuss — in detail — our co-operation. Yours Sincerely, Donald Tusk.” Even before Mr. Johnson took over, members of the Cabinet resigned, stating publicly that they will not serve under this man, something unprecedented in British politics. Among those Cabinet ministers resigning are many who have made it clear they will work from the backbenches to fight a reckless Brexit.
Autumn elections in the U.K. look highly likely. Mr. Johnson has done nearly a clean sweep of previous ministers and appointed what one commentator has called “a hammerhead shark of a cabinet”. We in the subcontinent should not be too enthused when we see names like Priti Patel and Sajid Javid in the Cabinet; this is a hard right-wing, pro-rich, racism-prone bunch of unelected reactionaries who have taken over from a barely elected and now self-ejected Theresa May. Mr. Johnson’s booster rockets may be multi-coloured but they will combust in the same direction, propelling him to what he hopes will be an election victory in a presidential style contest against Jeremy Corbyn.
Across the Atlantic, Mr. Trump has already launched his own re-election campaign and he too will be hoping to overcome the obstacles he currently faces. We’ll have to wait and see how American and British democracies react to these two men so nakedly bent upon dismantling the ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity, but there is one lasting image from the last few days: As Mr. Johnson’s motorcade drove to Buckingham Palace to be appointed Prime Minister, volunteers from Greenpeace including some children fanned out across the road, blocking his Jaguar and the police motorcycle outriders. The convoy stopped. The outriders came up to the activists and spoke to them. Other police appeared and pushed them aside. A few of the children came back, however, and the cars had to swerve to avoid them as they went past.
Ruchir Joshi is a writer, filmmaker and columnist
