On Saturday afternoon in the prime minister’s constituency of Uxbridge, local people were delighting in blue skies and sunning themselves in Grainge’s Yard as busker Joe Riverman belted out a medley of U2’s greatest hits. “I hate Johnson with a passion,” Riverman told the Observer. “He’s an absolute disgrace,” sharing his brief analysis of the current scandal engulfing Downing St before breaking into a rendition of With Or Without You. After Dominic Cummings’ excoriating public attack on the PM, in which the former chief adviser accused his former boss of being “unethical” and falling “below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves”, Uxbridge residents were furious and flummoxed.
“In other parts of the world, this is called corruption,” said Marius Fernandes, who was “fed up” after what he had read in the morning papers. “For some reason, people call it ‘cronyism’ here, they use different words, but it’s the same thing and it is scandalous and shocking.” The 62-year-old festival producer has lived in the area since the 70s and was dismayed by Johnson’s popularity among his neighbours. “He’s gone too far this time, and it’s been going on for too long, I don’t understand why more people don’t care more.” A sense of apathy and disillusionment was pervasive among the shoppers bustling through the town square, with many claiming that their voices didn’t matter. “I don’t know who’s telling the truth,” said Ken Slattery, a project manager from Ireland, fresh from a lunchtime run. “But it doesn’t make much difference does it? In every single country, the politicians are looking after themselves.” Slattery was indifferent to claims that Johnson had behaved well beneath the expected standards of integrity in public life. “You do almost come to expect it now. I’ve seen enough goblins come and go and I think if you dig deep enough on anyone, you’re going to find stuff.” “It’s a circus run by clowns,” added retired engineer Will, who didn’t want to give his full name. “But he’s no buffoon. He’s not silly, Boris. He’s been training for this job his whole life – how to avoid answering questions and how to pick the right words – you don’t get as far as he does by being stupid.”
Given the circumstances, did he think that lifelong training had paid off? “Oh, I don’t have any time for him, but I couldn’t do that job,” Will said. For Sara Hutanu, 16, and Adam Ireland, 17, the situation was a reminder of how they would vote once they were able to (Labour and Green, respectively). “I think our prime minister should be a lot more genuine,” said Hutanu. “He should be setting an example, practising what he preaches.” “I don’t think he has bad intentions,” added Ireland. “But I don’t think he carries out his job very well.” In 2019, despite a rousing youth campaign to oust Johnson from his seat, he increased his majority from 5,034 in 2017 to 7,210.
“It’s mostly Conservative voters here,” said Callistus Ekellem, a gastroenterology doctor at the local hospital. “And people will stay loyal to [Johnson] but I think he is making a fool of himself. We thought [David] Cameron was the one who made a disaster of political lobbying but now we know Boris is also making a mess of the situation. It is becoming a trademark for the party.” Some sympathy for the PM came from surprising quarters – shop worker Nimi Saundh, a lifelong Labour voter, said she felt sorry for Johnson. “It’s a lot of pressure to be doing that job, I feel sorry for him in a way because whatever he does will be wrong.” With respect to the leaks emerging from Downing St, Saundh was sceptical. “At the moment, it’s all hearsay isn’t it?” She took a puff on her cigarette. “I might feel differently if we had some hard evidence.”