Throughout his career – and time in office – Boris Johnson has been regarded as a 'political Houdini, skilled at political survival and endlessly able to rebound from mishaps'. Photo: independent.co.uk

Jeremy S. R. Hunt said Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Boris Johnson 'has done things that are not honest', after launching his bid to become the next Conservative party leader and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK). Photo: carmonreport.com

Speaking on BBC One’s Sunday Morning show, on July 10, 2022, the former Foreign Secretary and Health Secretary said: "I think he's done some things that are not honest and that's why we're in the situation we're in."

Hunt added: "I think the country realise things have gone wrong, the Conservative party acted and we now need to look forward, and there are so many big challenges that we need to focus on."

Political Houdini

According to The Conversation, the scandal that brought his downfall wasn’t Johnson’s first.

“Indeed, throughout his career – and time in office – Johnson has been regarded as a political Houdini, skilled at political survival and endlessly able to rebound from mishaps,” The Conversation wrote.

But even Johnson could not overcome the succession of scandals in recent months, not least “Partygate,” which involved revelations around his government’s repeated and brazen ignoring of its own COVID-19 lockdown rules.

In the end, it was his handling of a tawdry affair involving the promotion of a member of parliament accused of serious sexual wrongdoing that proved the final straw. That scandal precipitated a rash of cabinet resignations that made it clear Johnson could no longer rely on the support of his own party.

Mr Johnson and his government also struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic as it fumbled its initial pandemic response, acting slowly and in a lackluster manner.

“Johnson himself was absent for some of the crucial meetings called to discuss the pandemic in its early days,” The Conversation wrote.

According to a government report released in October 2021, the government’s decision to delay a strict lockdown allowed the virus to circulate widely and caused many thousands of additional deaths. And it nearly killed Johnson himself, who spent a week in the hospital in April 2020.

‘Greased piglet’

Prior to becoming prime minister, Johnson was no stranger to controversy and to a delicate relationship with the truth.

The Times newspaper, where he once worked as a reporter, sacked him for inventing a quote. And in 2001 he lost his senior position in the Conservative Party for lying about an affair.

Yet despite many setbacks usually of his own doing, Johnson had an uncanny ability to rebound, leading former prime minister David W.D. Cameron to liken him to a “greased piglet” who could not be caught.

His time in office was in keeping with precedent, littered by multiple scandals that continually led to questions about Johnson’s credibility. That included, among other unfavourable stories, that Johnson had received a secret undisclosed loan to pay for the costs of the renovation of his private quarters at 11 Downing Street, beyond his public allowance; or the reports of a close ally in parliament breaking lobbying rules by accepting payments from companies he was promoting.