The question is not whether Boris Johnson will leave, but when. For the whimsical Prime Minister who announced his resignation on July 7, the 10th, Downing Street will soon be just a memory. A crucial question will then arise for him: what to do next? If the interested party has not yet mentioned the follow-up he intends to give to his career, there is no shortage of options. And could even, if it lacks ideas, be inspired by its predecessors…
“Anything is possible with Boris Johnson”, slips Claire Breniaux, researcher in British civilization at the University of Franche-Comté. He surprised us more than once, the options remain very open.” Like Theresa May, BoJo could initially remain an MP, he who is elected in a constituency in west London. After his resignation in 2019, the former Prime Minister was returned to the benches of the House of Commons, before being re-elected in her constituency the same year.
But his return to the parliamentary arena could also be brief. After his departure in 2016, former head of government David Cameron only stayed two months on the benches of the Assembly, then he resigned. A year later, he joined the private sector… before being overtaken, last March, by a scandal linked to his intense lobbying activity with political and financial authorities, on behalf of the company Greensill Capital.
Conferences, journalism, or both?
Boris Johnson, who had complained on several occasions of money problems during his mandate, can in any case be reassured: he should not miss any more. “His standard of living will certainly be more comfortable outside of political life, confirms Catherine Marshall, professor of British history and civilization at Cy Cergy Paris University. By being, for example, heavily paid as a lecturer.” During a fundraiser in 2019, a generous donor had already agreed to pay 99,500 pounds sterling (117,000 euros) to the Conservative party for a breakfast with him.
According to the British press, Theresa May would also have, during the two years following her departure, accumulated nearly 2 million pounds sterling (2.3 million euros) thanks to juicy conferences, including a large part in the United States. A possible land of opportunity for Boris Johnson, born in New York in 1964, and who would certainly be welcomed with open arms by the Trump camp.
Unless he returns to his first love: letters. Before becoming Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 2016, Boris Johnson was preparing a biography of Shakespeare, which he never finished, but for which he would have already received a comfortable advance from his publisher. And what about, finally, a return to journalism, he who has devoted a large part of his professional life to the press? Until 2016, BoJo still held a columnist position at the Daily Telegraph, generously paid 250,000 pounds (295,000 euros) per year. A good way for the former Conservative leader to retain some weight in public debate.