{"id":252,"date":"2022-07-07T07:19:15","date_gmt":"2022-07-07T07:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mpelembe.net\/?p=252"},"modified":"2022-07-07T07:19:57","modified_gmt":"2022-07-07T07:19:57","slug":"boris-johnson-a-terminal-case-of-hubris-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mpelembe.net\/index.php\/boris-johnson-a-terminal-case-of-hubris-syndrome\/","title":{"rendered":"Boris Johnson: a terminal case of hubris syndrome"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Boris Johnson barricades himself in Number 10, apparently unwilling or unable to listen to the advice of close party colleagues who are calling on him to resign, how can we understand this bizarre melodrama?<\/p>\n

As I watched Johnson\u2019s appearance in front of the House of Commons Liaison Committee on the afternoon before his showdown with key members of his cabinet, I couldn\u2019t help but wonder if there was a deeper malady at play. It was as if an existential disconnect had settled across the comfortingly boring committee room. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The disconnect meant that no matter what question came from the committee of MPs, it received a squirming response. The more specific and aggressive the questioning became, the more bizarre the answers from Johnson. Many were entirely nonsensical. The conversation drifted, unsurprisingly, to the mental health of politicians<\/a> but even this connection floated unnoticed past the eyes of the prime minister as he randomly declared that \u201calcohol served in the Palace of Westminster\u201d was the heart of the problem.<\/p>\n

The assembled body of senior parliamentarians looked completely baffled by this response but nothing could dull the prime minister\u2019s belief that he was having a \u201cterrific week\u201d and that he would be \u201cprime minister tomorrow\u201d. <\/p>\n

Even the news that a cabal of carnivorous cabinet members were at that moment gathering to finalise their moves to oust him raised nothing but a sardonic smile.<\/p>\n

Had Johnson finally fully succumbed to what former Labour foreign secretary David Owen has clinically defined as \u201chubris syndrome\u201d<\/a>? <\/p>\n

Symptoms include grandiose aspirations, bold self-confidence, inattention to detail, arrogant impetuosity, narcissistic tendencies, ill-conceived decisions, a refusal to listen to or take advice and a particular form of incompetence \u2026 a propensity to foolishness, rashness and folly.<\/p>\n

Sound familiar?<\/p>\n

The only problem with this diagnosis is that it is thought to be an \u201cacquired disorder\u201d linked to the pressures of holding high political office<\/a> whereas Johnson\u2019s blond ambition has always been fuelled by hubristic tendencies. This is the child who wanted to be \u201cworld king\u201d<\/a>. Those who doubt this psychological trait would do well to read Tom Bower\u2019s biography of Johnson<\/a> \u2013 there\u2019s a reason it is subtitled The Gambler. <\/p>\n

When Johnson announced that he was not about to undergo a \u201cpsychological transformation\u201d<\/a> following the recent double by-election defeat he was, in effect, defining his own downfall. He will not change and the party can no longer continue with him as its leader. Only now it seems his hubris has reached its zenith. The prime minister somehow believes he can rule without a government<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The exceptional times of the past few years demanded an exceptional politician who was willing to break the rules and ride roughshod over convention to get things done. Normal, post-pandemic times demand a very different leader. Bluster, bluff and buffoonery \u2013 levelled-up with puppyish optimism \u2013 are not enough for a country facing multiple crises and the need to define a new position in the world. <\/p>\n

What next?<\/h2>\n

If the Conservative Party is good at anything it\u2019s removing a leader who is past their sell-by date. Remember Margaret Thatcher\u2019s tears?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s almost impossible to imagine that the tipping point has not now been reached. The \u201cBoris bounce\u201d<\/a> seems a distant memory as the realities of a changing political climate strike home. <\/p>\n

But there\u2019s the sting in the tail for those who think that the thud of Johnson\u2019s implosion might offer the Labour Party a shot at government. Any political strategist worth his or her salt could have told the Labour Party that Boris Johnson had become a political liability for the Conservatives. His trust problem had made him a toxic brand<\/a>. In this regard he\u2019d actually become an asset for the Labour Party. But the timing of his ousting now looks set to give the Conservatives plenty of time to rebuild and reconnect ahead of the next general election, to be held either next year or the year after. <\/p>\n

Labour may have pushed a little too hard, a little too early. <\/p>\n

For Johnson it appears that the next chapter of his story is about to unfold. My sense is that the UK\u2019s first real celebrity politician will \u2013 after finishing his long-awaited biography of Shakespeare<\/a> \u2013 reemerge as a no-less hubristic political celebrity.<\/p>\n

Matthew Flinders<\/a>, Founding Director of the Sir Bernard Crick Centre for the Public Understanding of Politics, University of Sheffield<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Boris Johnson barricades himself in Number 10, apparently unwilling or unable to listen to the advice of close party colleagues who are callingRead More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAowu7GVCw:productID":"","_crdt_document":"","activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[455,292,293,294,295,722,296,297,816,817,298,299,300,818,819,301,723,820],"class_list":["post-252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-american-people-of-german-descent","tag-boris-johnson","tag-british-mps","tag-british-people","tag-conservative-party","tag-creative-commons","tag-david-owen","tag-english-people","tag-government-of-the-united-kingdom","tag-international-democrat-union","tag-labour-party","tag-margaret-thatcher","tag-matthew-flinders","tag-politics-by-country","tag-prime-minister-of-the-united-kingdom","tag-tom-bower","tag-united-kingdom","tag-university-of-sheffield"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/mpelembe.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Boris-Johnson.jpg","blog_images":{"medium":"https:\/\/mpelembe.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Boris-Johnson-300x194.jpg","large":"https:\/\/mpelembe.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Boris-Johnson.jpg"},"ams_acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBoris Johnson: a terminal case of hubris syndrome - Mpelembe Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"He hardly has any government ministers and his own cabinet tried to force him to resign. 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