The lessons Keir Starmer could learn from Boris Johnson’s success

It is astonishing to think that as recently as last autumn, Boris Johnson looked like an unstoppable force in British politics.

In the months after the Hartlepool by-election, there was seemingly nothing he could do to undermine his own popularity. It didn’t seem to matter how many times he was caught out lying, how many offensive comments he delivered, how much dodgy wallpaper was procured: mud just wouldn’t stick.

In whole swathes of the country, Boris was Boris and that was all that mattered. Keir Starmer and Labour just couldn’t dent his lead. It was a problem for Labour, and it was a problem for the country. I should know: in focus group after focus group I talked to voters in the red wall and beyond and, asked about Boris’s latest misdemeanour, found participants would shrug, smile and laugh it off.

But then Partygate landed and the whole thing unravelled. Faster than we could possibly have imagined, Brand Boris went from hero to zero – and, as of last week, he was (more or less) gone. Not only that, the Conservative Party is indulging in a civil war – and the polls suggest that Starmer and his people should be readying themselves for government.

It would be easy at this point, for those of us who were horrified by Johnson’s brand of egotistical, dishonest and immoral leadership, to dust ourselves down and write off the last three years as an anomaly: as something best forgotten.

But I think that would be a mistake. I believe it is worth thinking about what made Johnson so extraordinarily popular as a political brand – in a way that was broadly unprecedented – and what other politicians might learn from it. Specifically, I’m thinking of Labour leader Keir Starmer, who, for all his many strengths, still struggles to form a bond with ordinary voters. It is a problem that I have written about before.

And so – with a huge caveat that I never approved of Boris, his politics or “Get Brexit Done” – here are a few things for Starmer to think about as he starts planning the next election campaign:

1. Johnson wears his patriotism lightly. He gives the impression that he thinks being British is quite fun. He waves flags, of course, but he also looks like he actively enjoys the idea of being from this country. For many he embodied the nebulous idea of “merry England”. Starmer always looks terribly, terribly serious when he tells us how much he loves the UK.

2. Totally and utterly misplaced though it was, millions of voters bought Johnson’s version of boundless optimism. We live in dour times, with a seemingly endless conveyor belt of terrible news crashing over this country – Brexit, Covid, the cost of living crisis to name a few – and sometimes voters like to be reminded that there are “sunny uplands” which are within reach.

3. Johnson actively seems to enjoy campaigning. This, I think, was Boris’s most authentic moment. Perhaps because it was all about him and his ego – but nonetheless it’s important that voters think a potential PM enjoys getting out and about, meeting voters and telling stories. Bursting through a foam wall driving a digger does look fun.

4. Understanding that the “small things” are not small things. At his pomp, one of Johnson’s gifts was to give the impression that he really did care about potholes, about graffiti and about the fact that the local police station was closed. In reality, of course, there was never much danger that this shape shifter would do anything about it. But it’s worth remembering that these snags matter as much as macro economics for how people view their towns and communities.

5. Similarly, whether it was all an act or not, Johnson nearly always gave the impression that he really, really liked hanging around with ordinary people. The occasion when Johnson had a pint at the Weatherspoons in Walsall – and most importantly seemed to really enjoy it – might be apocryphal, but it still speaks to an important truth.

6. Being a robot politician and just repeating your lines has become very tired in the eyes of the public. Time and again, people in focus groups would – with unknowing irony – tell me how “authentic” Johnson was. And how he “just says it likes he sees it”.

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I am not advocating that any politician attempts to replicate Johnson’s shtick. It was morally bankrupt. The era of Boris Johnson is nearly over, thank god – but it is important to remember that there was more to his extraordinary popularity than just “getting Brexit done”.

The outgoing PM was – and is – a very unusual public figure. And the politicians that want to succeed him – including Starmer – would do well to at the very least think about the way his personality was perceived and how that helped catapult him to such meteoric heights.

Johnson may be nearly gone: but that doesn’t mean identikit politicians can count on hoovering up his millions of votes.

Ed Dorrell is a director at Public First