“Johnson at 10: The Inside Story” by by Anthony Seldon and Raymond Newell
“Johnson at 10: The Inside Story” by by Anthony Seldon and Raymond Newell
The authors of this book are both historians who also collaborated on the book May at 10. However, Sir Anthony Seldon has written many other political biographies of British Prime Ministers.
This book is well researched and written and gives a scathing and full account of the decisions, character flaws and personnel that dictated the course of Boris Johnson’s chaotic Premiership, based on over 200 interviews with his allies, aides and co-workers. It is an in-depth report of the 3 years of his Premiership from July 2019 until September 2022, which covered a series of crises including the upheaval of Brexit, Covid 19, Afghanistan and supporting Ukraine following the Russian invasion. The ultimate revelation of the Partygate Scandal as a result of social gatherings at 10 Downing Street which took place during the Covid Lockdown, led to the final demise of his government.
The majority of the group did not enjoy the book and many only skip read in part. In fact, only a few actually read the whole book but one of the group described it as “brilliant”. It was suggested that the book would be welcomed and appreciated by anyone with strong political interests. However, it generated a lively discussion about Boris Johnson, igniting very passionate views from the Page Turners. Most agreed that Boris Johnson was egotistical and driven purely by his own agenda for wealth, power and personal gain.
The scores ranged from 2 to 8 out of 10 with a final score of 5.