The old boris is back — clear the decks for an early election | thearticle

At last: Boris the true Conservative is back. Safety-first public pronouncements on restraining the populace were the cover for a return to total freedom. There is nothing mandatory now –

masks, vaccinations, passports, government emergency laws are gone. Europeans are open-mouthed at the UK’s full, mask-less and passport-less football stadia. The UK is now the most

Covid-open of any country, more so than the state of Florida under Governor Ron DeSantis. Over the last month, Boris Johnson seems to be getting the hang of what Conservatism means. This

seems to have passed by most of the media. Critical articles in Right-wing periodicals on paying for social care are well-wide of the mark. Boris ’ s strategy worked for Margaret Thatcher

and that is why his backbenchers caved, partly too proud to admit the truth. This is Johnsonian _realpolitik_. Boris likely never lost his Conservative instincts. They were dormant beneath a

governing necessity and the tedious but influential virtue-signalling media and health communities. Cummings laid bare Boris’s genuine feelings on lockdown versus freedom. The Conservative

transformation in recent times has been partly Machiavellian, born of election-winning necessity. Alongside the open goal of a non-existent opposition. So the old Boris is back. Will there

be an election in the spring? Thatcher always went for four-year cycles, why not a three-year one, post the Covid paralysis since December 2019. It would stop Labour having time to replace

Starmer or the latter getting his act together. Sunak can also likely keep the quantitative easing cash and solid economic conditions in place until the spring. After that and into 2023/24,

the economist ’ s crystal ball is very murky. The incumbent government has very compelling economic conditions now. Going to the country early and winning in 2022 guarantees him tenure

through 2027 – a shrewd application of political expediency of which Boris seems to be a master. An alternative election plan leaves many risky imponderables, not least an electorate

sceptical of almost 15 years of Conservative government and a reinvigorated Labour opposition. Clouded by Brexit uncertainty and an appallingly timid campaign, May ’ s calculated gamble in

2017 backfired. Yet Thatcher ’ s vision and clear manifesto, alongside an improving economy, paid off handsomely in 1983 and 1987. You just know which corner Boris is in. After all, he went

early in 2019. Keir Starmer has had ample opportunity, but hasn’t yet laid a proper finger on Boris. With the airwaves becoming free of Covid distraction, that has to change in the three

years ahead. Solid in a courtroom, the jury does remain out on whether Starmer is canny enough politically. Either way, with a clear run through to the assumed next election of 2023/24, he

has time to learn on the job or Labour has the option to replace him with a more charismatic national figure. Probably not with another Islington liberal, but with a politician who

intrinsically understands the critical Red Wall voters. Andy Burnham is the obvious choice. Boris has a remarkable opportunity to nip all this in the bud. The current momentum would be

unstoppable. The combination of Boris, the true freedom-loving Conservative, with an election-winning strategy is as potent an electoral landslide reality as Tony Blair ’ s New Labour ruse.

A MESSAGE FROM THEARTICLE _We are the only publication that’s committed to covering every angle. We have an important contribution to make, one that’s needed now more than ever, and we need

your help to continue publishing throughout the pandemic. So please, make a donation._