Boris Johnson might enjoy being a political ringmaster – but distraction will only take him so far

What do the people want? Bread and circuses. That’s what the Roman poet Juvenal thought when he wrote his Sixteen Satires sometime around 100-127AD.

At this point it’s an old trope. Keep the people entertained and fed and they will vote for you, or at the very least pay less attention to your other activities. That’s how Juvenal saw it in Ancient Rome, or at least he saw “bread and the games” – panem et circenses – by which he meant gladiatorial and athletic events.

“The people have abdicated our duties”, he laments in Satire 10. In his mind he was berating the people for only caring about these two things, instead, perhaps, of aiming his sharp pen at those responsible for exploiting this very fact.

After all, who can blame the people of second-century Rome for just wanting a quiet life with cheap food on the table, and games to enjoy?

Boris Johnson sees himself as something of a classicist. No doubt he knows of this now-cliche, no doubt he has abused this very idea throughout his career as the politician who accentuates the positive, the fact that the “good times” are never far away. Images of Johnson as Mayor strapped to a zipwire and brandishing union flags come to mind, or what about him attempting to wave the flag at the Olympic handover ceremony in Beijing in 2008?

His “leadership” style is one of distraction, but instead of relying upon external distraction, he has instead created the circus in Downing Street – a political Keeping Up With the Kardashians, if you will – the ringmaster of which is himself. He is specialist of the dead cat strategy. Evidenced from the number thrown by the ringmaster (or perhaps escapologist) and his government when we should have been talking about the fact our prime minister was issued a fine by the Met for breaking his own lockdown laws.

It’s exhausting stripping back these layers. Meanwhile Johnson is out there playing Winston Churchill over Ukraine. Positioning himself in the Second World War shadow that this country so loves. What is happening in Ukraine is important, but Johnson appears more interested in the distraction it provides from domestic matters – not least including examples like a Ukrainian town naming a street for Johnson.

All of this is a distraction from the repeated mistakes. We now barely talk about the multi-million pound contracts given out to associates of the Conservative party during Covid-19 pandemic, let alone the death toll from the virus. And let’s not forget the prorogation of parliament and his seemingly insatiable appetite for to damage the Good Friday agreement over Brexit.

This is how Johnson rules. He is the ringmaster, the distractor, the great entertainer. Many wonder how his approval rating always seems to recover from big dips, but I believe the truth is this: when I ask my nieces, who are between the ages of 5 and 8, they know who the prime minister of this country is, they can name him, they mention his hair and they laugh and smile.

Granted, it is not quite the same for the voting population of the UK. But this is how powerful Johnson’s brand is – even children sort of like him because he’s “funny”. Unless you’re engaged in the chaos and incompetence you may not think much about it, you may find it complicated – what is prorogation anyway? – and so all some will see is the entertainer. That is not to denigrate the voting public, it is an image that Johnson works hard to keep.

But there are two parts to Juvenal’s adage, Johnson has turned Number 10 into a circus, and he has strived to be the good-time PM even when the times were very bad indeed, but what of the bread?

The cost of living crisis is hitting hard already. People are struggling and many of those worse off may soon be unable to put food on the table or keep a roof over their heads. You cannot have circuses without the bread, you cannot distract people away from their needs forever. Instead, Johnson must find a way to alleviate the cost of living crisis, or else the circus tent could collapse.

In the words of Juvenal, the people have “pulled in their horns” – but they may come out again.