Boris Johnson has declared his position on many political issues through his public comments. Johnson's political positions have changed throughout his political career. His policies, views and voting record have been the subject of commentary during Johnson's tenure in various positions, including as Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016 and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2019 to 2022.
Johnson is a supporter of unionism. He has sometimes been described as Eurosceptic, and advocated for a referendum on European Union membership for some time before the 2016 vote, during which he endorsed Vote Leave. Before and during his premiership, his views on Brexit included endorsing leaving the Single Market and leaving even without a deal. He opposed Theresa May's Chequers plan and Irish backstop, and as Prime Minister renegotiated the Brexit withdrawal agreement and replaced the latter with the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Johnson's views on the environment have changed; he wrote several climate skeptical columns in the 2010s but advocated for political action on climate change and renewable energy transition by the 2020s. In foreign policy, he was a transatlanticist, supported the Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen and endorsed a more aggressive policy towards Russia, including by imposing sanctions on Russia, supporting Finland and Sweden's NATO membership bid, and supporting Ukraine during Russia's ongoing invasion, authorizing billions in foreign aid and weapons shipments to Ukraine. While Johnson initially wanted closer relations with China, he turned hawkish on the country by the end of his tenure, as he had established a citizenship pathway for emigres from Hong Kong and joined the AUKUS security pact.
Johnson has been described as an adherent of one-nation conservatism. Commentators have also likened Johnson's political ideology to liberalism and libertarianism, and in some cases Gaullism and Trumpism. Some of his views and political leanings have changed over time. On certain issues, he has been described as slightly more liberal than others in the Conservative Party. It has also been noted that the Conservative Party manifesto of 2019 was the most "leftwing" manifesto of any Tory leader since the 1960s, which would make Boris Johnson the most leftwing Conservative leader since Harold Macmillan.
Political ideology
Ideologically, Johnson has been described by himself and others as a "One-Nation Tory". In 2012, the political scientist Tony Travers described Johnson as "a fairly classic—that is, small-state—mildly eurosceptic Conservative" who, like his contemporaries David Cameron and George Osborne, also embraced "modern social liberalism". The Guardian stated that while Mayor of London, Johnson blended economic and social liberalism, with The Economist saying that in doing so Johnson "transcends his Tory identity" and adopts a more libertarian perspective. Stuart Reid, Johnson's colleague at The Spectator, described the latter's views as being those of a "liberal libertarian". Business Insider commented that as London Mayor, Johnson gained a reputation as "a liberal, centre-ground politician".
Gimson wrote that Johnson is economically and socially "a genuine liberal", although he retains a "Tory element" to his personality through his "love of existing institutions, and a recognition of the inevitability of hierarchy". His liberal stance on matters such as social policy, immigration and free trade were also commented on in 2019. In 2019, Al Jazeera editor James Brownswell said that although Johnson had "leaned to the right" since the Brexit campaign, he remained "slightly more socially liberal" than much of his party. In 2019, former Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party Michael Heseltine said Johnson "has no right to call himself a one-nation Conservative" and wrote: "I fear that any traces of liberal conservatism that still exist within the prime minister have long since been captured by the rightwing, foreigner-bashing, inward-looking view of the world that has come to characterise his fellow Brexiters."
Stuart Wilks-Heeg, executive director of Democratic Audit, said that "Boris is politically nimble", while Purnell stated that Johnson regularly changed his opinion on political issues, commenting on what she perceived to be "an ideological emptiness beneath the staunch Tory exterior". She later referred to his "opportunistic—some might say pragmatic—approach to politics".
Writing for Prospect, Philip Collins suggested that Johnson and other Brexiteers in the Conservative Party were "British Gaullists" who were "drawing on a conception of the nation in which the dormant spirit of liberty is being reborn". He suggested this was a form of nationalism, albeit not of the "chauvinistic" variety. Some outlets have suggested Johnson exemplifies some qualities of Trumpism. In Politico, Michael Hirsch compared Johnson to Trump, suggesting that both were advocates of a "New Nationalism". Johnson responded he is "not a nationalist if by that you mean I'm a xenophobe or someone who deprecates other countries and cultures".
Purnell has argued Johnson "is nothing if not an elitist". In a 2000 article titled "Long Live Elitism", Johnson stated that "without elites and elitism, man would still be in his caves". Since the Brexit campaign, he has criticised the "cynicism of the elite" about Brexit, described an "elite conspiracy to thwart Brexit", and accused the elite of being "frankly indifferent to the suffering that their policies are causing". Some media sources and political scientists have therefore called him a populist. The historian Sir Richard J. Evans has described Johnson as "a firm believer in the great man theory of history".
Brexit and the European Union In 2001, in an interview when he stood for Henley, Johnson said that he was in favour of Britain remaining in the EU despite his Euroscepticism because of "influence". 2003, Johnson said of the EU, "I am not by any means an ultra-Eurosceptic. In some ways, I am a bit of a fan of the European Union. If we did not have one, we would invent something like it." From 2009, he advocated a referendum on Britain's EU membership.
In the 1997 Tory leadership election and the 2001 Tory leadership election, Johnson endorsed Ken Clarke for the leadership of the Conservative Party despite Clarke's Euroenthusiasm.
2016 referendum In February 2016, Johnson endorsed Vote Leave in the "Out" campaign for the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. He called David Cameron's warnings about leaving "greatly over exaggerated". Following this announcement, which was interpreted by financial markets as making Brexit more probable, the pound sterling slumped by nearly 2% against the US dollar, reaching its lowest level since March 2009.
In April 2016, in an article for The Sun, in response to a comment by President Barack Obama that Britain should remain in the European Union, Johnson said an "ancestral dislike" of Britain owing to his "part-Kenyan" background may have shaped Obama's views. Conservative MP Sir Nicholas Soames branded the comments "idiotic" and "deeply offensive". Several Labour and Liberal Democrat politicians condemned them as racist and unacceptable. In light of the remark, a King's College London student society revoked a speaking invitation it had extended to him. Conversely, both the Conservative Iain Duncan Smith and UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage defended his comments.
On 22 June 2016, Johnson declared 23 June could be "Britain's independence day" in a televised debate in front of a 6,000-member audience at Wembley Arena. David Cameron, British prime minister at the time, specifically addressed Johnson's claim, publicly stating, "the idea that our country isn't independent is nonsense. This whole debate demonstrates our sovereignty."
Under Theresa May In a September 2017 op-ed, Johnson reiterated the UK would regain control of £350 million a week after Brexit, suggesting it go to the National Health Service (NHS). Cabinet colleagues subsequently criticised him for reviving the assertion and accused of "clear misuse of official statistics" by the chair of the UK Statistics Authority, Sir David Norgrove. The authority rejected the suggestion that it was quibbling over newspaper headlines and not Johnson's actual words.
In 2018, he called for Britain to leave the Single Market and advocated a more liberal approach to immigration than that of Prime Minister Theresa May. He stated many people believed that Britain's EU membership had led to the suppression of the wages of its "indigenous" people and said the EU was intent on creating a "superstate" that would seek to rob Britain of its sovereignty.
In a February 2018 letter to May, Johnson suggested that Northern Ireland may have to accept border controls after Brexit and that it would not seriously affect trade, having initially said a hard border would be unthinkable.
Secret recordings obtained by BuzzFeed News in June 2018 revealed Johnson's dissatisfaction with May's negotiating style, accusing her of being too collaborative with the European Union in Brexit negotiations. Comparing May's approach to that of the US President Donald Trump—who at the time was engaged in a combative trade war with the EU because it raised tariffs on metal—Johnson said: "Imagine Trump doing Brexit. He'd go in bloody hard ... There'd be all sorts of breakdowns, all sorts of chaos. Everyone would think he'd gone mad. But actually you might get somewhere. It's a very, very good thought." He also called Philip Hammond and the Treasury "the heart of Remain" and accused individuals of scaremongering over a Brexit "meltdown", saying "No panic. Pro bono publico, no bloody panic. It's going to be all right in the end."
In July 2018, three days after the cabinet had its meeting at Chequers to agree on a Brexit strategy, Johnson, along with Brexit Secretary David Davis, resigned his post.
As Prime Minister
In his first speech as Prime Minister, Johnson said that the United Kingdom would leave the European Union on 31 October 2019 with or without a deal, and promised to remove the Irish backstop from the Brexit withdrawal agreement. Johnson declared his intention to re-open negotiations on the withdrawal agreement, but talks did not immediately resume as the EU refused to accept Johnson's pre-condition that the backstop be removed. The government subsequently announced £2.1bn of funding to prepare for a no-deal Brexit on 31 October. On 28 August 2019, UK and EU negotiators agreed to resume regular meetings to discuss the withdrawal agreement.
In 2019, Johnson said he would take Britain out of the EU on 31 October whether there was a trade deal in place or not. Johnson also stated his opposition to a referendum on the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
On 19 August 2019, Johnson wrote a letter to the EU and asked for the removal of the "backstop" accord, which had previously been agreed and signed by Theresa May during her premiership. The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, rejected the proposal. On 26 August 2019, Johnson said that Britain would not pay £39 billion for the withdrawal agreement were the UK to leave without a deal on 31 October. The European Parliament Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt said there would be no further negotiation on the trade deal unless the UK agreed to pay the entire sum.