In SEO terms, Boris Johnson’s rise to power has only just begun

As SEO editor, I study what our online audience are interested in and what questions they are asking Google.

In resigning as prime minister, Theresa May achieved the highest search interest in her entire tenure in No 10. Now, the old saying “a week is a long time in politics” (a saying widely attributed to Harold Wilson) is too slow for the political rollercoaster on Friday.

No sooner had the emotional May stepped back into Downing Street and the British public’s online interest started to swing towards a certain Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson.

As the perceived frontrunner to succeed as Conservative leader and prime minister, people wanted to know his current position on Brexit, what level of party support he enjoys and who his girlfriend is (sigh).

One could be disparaging about people moving so quickly on from the fact May was our second female prime minister – but quite rightly people are concerned about Brexit and the potential lurch of the Conservative party to the right.

If the front runner was not the former London mayor and foreign secretary, perhaps people would have remained intrigued by Theresa May’s failed attempt to secure and pass a unifying Brexit deal.

However, we are faced with a British politician who, like Donald Trump, is known for bombastic speeches and a seemingly glib relationship with the facts. Thus we should expect a similarly constant interest in his actions and agenda.

The huge interest in Johnson’s bid for leadership should be a warning to liberal opponents: those searching for information about the Uxbridge MP are not all thinking of ways to stop his ascension.

Boris Johnson knows that if some British people can name just one politician, it will probably be him. Name recognition alone could take him far.

I have been writing Johnson’s name at least once a week for my entire journalistic career, and it now looks like this won’t be changing any time soon.

Yours,

Matt Payton

SEO Editor