Chaotic Johnson Always Struggled With Rules, and U.K. Voters Love It – Bloomberg

As a schoolboy, Britains prime minister Boris Johnson appeared to be convinced that the normal rules did not apply to him.

I think he honestly believes that it is churlish of us not to regard him as an exception, one who should be free of the network of obligation which binds everyone else, wrote Johnsons Eton College house master, Martin Hammond, in 1982, as quoted in Andrew Gimsons biography of the premier.

The approach seems to have stayed with Johnson throughout his career, repeatedly landing him in hot water. For weeks, the government has been fending off allegations of sleaze -- British shorthand for scandals of corruption, questionable sexual behavior, or other shady dealings. Adding to the impression of disarray, it emerged that Johnsons cellphone number is still available on the Internet, from a press release published 15 years ago.

U.K. Parliamentary Sleaze Watchdog May Investigate Boris Johnson

The political donations watchdog has now opened an official inquiry after concluding there were reasonable grounds to believe the law had been broken in the way refurbishments to Johnsons apartment were paid for.

Potential penalties include fines or criminal charges, depending on which rules may have been breached. On the face of it, just a week away from crucial local elections on May 6, the political price could be high.

Johnson insists he broke no laws and is complying fully with the rules on political funding and the investigations into what happened. I dont think theres anything to see here, he said on Thursday, describing the row as a farrago of nonsense.

While most Conservatives believe their leader will ride out the storm, few are happy about it. One senior Tory figure attributes the premiers difficulties to his casual approach, which has become worse since the pandemic suspended or compromised the usual procedures for holding ministers to account.

In the words of one of Johnsons own ministers, this ridiculous row about expensive wallpaper in the Downing Street flat is typical of the premiers carelessness and shows he probably didnt think through the implications of his actions.

Yet overall, Johnson seems to have been right. So far in his career, his disregard for the normal rules of engagement has not held him back for long. In fact, it has been a large factor in his appeal as a politician who isnt part of the mainstream.

For Gimson, author of Boris: The Making of the Prime Minister, one reason why Johnson is so popular and has won over people who voted Labour all their lives is because he deliberately shuns political correctness, speaking out controversially and obviously flouting normal rules.

Boris makes things interesting, sometimes by things going wrong, Gimson said. He has never really been at all conscientious about following rules and he is obviously more tolerant of chaos and strife around him than other people.

Johnson plays up the performance, too. When he is getting ready to be photographed or to appear on television, the prime minister does the exact opposite of a slickly-styled politician. Instead of tidying himself up for the cameras, he runs a meaty hand through his blond hair to make it messy.

He shrugged off allegations of an affair with American businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri, who was given taxpayer funding while Johnson was Mayor of London. None of this mattered much in 2019, when he led the Tories to a historic 80-seat majority at the general election.

Tory MP James Sunderland said voters are very supportive of Johnson and want a prime minister who is visual and outspoken. Boris Johnson is a personality.

He said voters are not bothered by the row over the apartment because this is just another attempt to find sleaze and scandal when its just not there.

One senior party official said the premier would be fine as long as next weeks elections in local English districts go well. Johnson and the Conservatives are ahead of the Labour opposition in opinion polls, with a YouGov survey for the Times giving the Tories an 11-point lead on Thursday.

But the sheer weight of allegations piling up against Johnson and his Conservatives remains a risk. For one thing, regulators may be less tolerant than voters. In 2018, parliamentary authorities rapped him for repeatedly being late in disclosing payments hed received.

In another report in 2019, the authorities were even less impressed that he had failed to register his ownership of a share of a house in the countryside. Parliaments Committee on Standards concluded with concern that these two investigations demonstrated a pattern of behavior by Johnson.

While he wasnt trying to hide anything, Johnson displayed an over-casual attitude toward obeying the rules along with a lack of effective organization within his office, the panel said. Further breaches could lead to more serious sanctions in future, it warned.

The big danger for the premier is that the investigations into the Downing Street flat take months or longer to conclude, while the drip-drip of allegations continues. Johnson has made an enemy of his former aide, Dominic Cummings, who is now on the warpath and ready to give evidence under oath.

If this episode hurts him, it will be because it bolsters an impression of untrustworthiness and of casualness that the Lex Greensill lobbying affair and other recent disclosures have fanned, said Bronwen Maddox, director of the Institute for Government. After a year when many people have lost relatives and friends to the virus or lost their jobs and struggled to support themselves, revelations that the prime ministers girlfriend has recruited a designer to overhaul the flat, spending tens of thousands of pounds, will seem graceless.

In the end, even with a forgiving public, the most popular prime ministers run out of road, according to Gimson. Every sort of charm wears off eventually.

With assistance by Kitty Donaldson, and Alex Morales

(Updates with PMs phone number online, latest poll numbers from third paragraph)

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Chaotic Johnson Always Struggled With Rules, and U.K. Voters Love It - Bloomberg