Are a leader’s gifts more important than his character flaws — or vice versa?
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Boris Johnson’s decision to quit as prime minister of the United Kingdom followed unprecedented scenes in the British parliament this week, as he clung onto power despite the resignation of more than fifty of his ministers in an attempt to force him out.
The immediate cause of the revolt was a series of last straws over his perceived personal dishonesty, first by breaking his own Covid laws and, most recently, lying about his promotion of a “sex-pest” Member of Parliament.
The deeper issue was a profound disillusionment among those who had voted him into power for delivering Brexit. They concluded that he had failed to use Britain’s newly recovered independence to free up the country’s capacity for progress and prosperity.
Nor was he resisting the culture war being waged upon core values, particularly the loss of control over illegal immigration and the trashing of Britain’s history and identity.
For two crazy days, it seemed that Johnson intended never to surrender and would go down fighting to the bitter end.
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