The Fall of Boris Johnson: The Award-Winning, Explosive Account of the PM’s Final Days
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The Fall of Boris Johnson is the explosive inside account of how a prime minister lost his hold on power. From Sebastian Payne, former Whitehall Editor for the Financial Times and author of Broken Heartlands.
Winner of the Parlimentary Book Awards
A New Statesman, The Times, Daily Mail and FT Book of the Year
‘Revelatory’ – The Daily Telegraph
‘Delicious detail’ – The Times
Boris Johnson was touted as the saviour of the country and the Conservative Party, obtaining a huge commons majority and finally ‘getting Brexit done’. But, within three short years, he was deposed in disgrace and left the country in crisis.
Sebastian Payne tells the essential behind-the-scenes story, charting the series of scandals that felled Johnson: from the blocked suspension of Owen Paterson, through partygate and the final death blow: the Chris Pincher allegations. This is the full narrative of the betrayals, rivalries and resignations that resulted in the dramatic Conservative coup – and set in motion those events that saw the party sink to catastrophic new lows.
With unparalleled access to those who were in the room when key decisions were made, Payne tells of the miscalculations and mistakes that led to Boris Johnson’s downfall. This is a gripping and timely look at how power is gained, wielded and lost in Britain today.
‘Genuinely page-turning’ – Andrew Marr
‘Entertaining and illuminating’ – Tim Shipman
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Additional information
| Publisher | Main Market edition (1 Jun. 2023), Pan |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 320 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1035016567 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1035016563 |
| Reading age | 18 years and up |
| Dimensions | 13 x 2.2 x 19.7 cm |
by Alan T
I couldn’t rate this book more highly. I’m a Boris fan and expected the book to be a hatchet job but it was entirely the opposite. The detail and inside information is staggering – and thoroughly entertaining. Even having finished it I have no inkling of Mr Payne’s politics. As you might expect after reading the book my view was that a charismatic PrimeMinister who had achieved so much ( Covid, Brexit, Ukraine etc etc) was brought down by trivial issues which were magnified a thousand times over by his enemies and the media. Even twenty years ago it would have been unthinkable. But having said that, the book is so well researched and objective that another reader may well come to a totally different conclusion. What is absolutely certain is that anyone with an interest in politics will love it.
by Amazon Customer
Whilst it provides an interesting insight on the events, it is witten by a Conservative admirer of Johnson. Much blame is placed on his advisors (chosen by Johnson for their loyalty not ability), Johnson’s history of lying, laziness and dislike of scrutiny glossed over along with 200,000 Covid deaths. The author think Johnson was an international statesman rather than a charlatan who never read his Brexit deal and just thought he could renege on it later. The other striking point is that the interests of the UK people barely mentioned as appeasing the right wing MPs and Johnson’s personal popularity among those around him was far more important. An inside view on the chaos, but little in the way of critical analysis. A very biased pro-Johnson version of events.
by Jim Grace
If anyone is surprised by these revelations, they surely are in a minority.
Self serving, non-rule abiding, deceitful, disrespectful, unaccountable; his profile in a nutshell. Johnson wriggles and manipulate s his way from crisis to crisis and takes no responsibility for his failures or the consequences of his actions. Like his hero Churchill, he was not that enamoured by his peers who used his charisma and buffoonary charm to win the 2019 election.
Blaming others is his forte: apologising is not.
by Chris D.
If you listened to all the news and podcasts at the time this book doesn’t tell you a huge amount that is new.
by Geoff Benson
I bought this as an expected light read on my Kindle. I’d heard of Sebastian Payne, listened to him on LBC occasionally, and had expected a fairly low key exposition of the Johnson story, covering the salient facts, maybe a little additional insight, and I was very pleasantly (though whether the word pleasantly belongs anywhere near this Tory government I rather doubt) surprised at the level of detail that the book contained.
Obviously, the events are incredibly recent, and this leads to a couple of problems. Firstly, the headline events are so etched in our minds that we don’t appreciate the vast amount of new information that Payne conveys in his narrative, turning a sort of out of focus sepia understanding of the events into a glorious technicolour 3D photograph. He clearly had access to sources that were privy to information that is inaccessible to most people…and this leads to the next problem. As the events are so recent, all the players are still in the game so persuading people to speak must have been quite difficult, leading to almost no named sources. Nevertheless, credibility shone through the entire narrative, and there is a consistency that comes through that renders the events horrifyingly plausible.
by Raymondo
Sebastian Payne provides an overview of truly terrifying clarity of the scandals and failings of the premiership of this individual who should never have held high office. if you have any interest in politics in the past few years do read it!
by Luke Cordell
Whether you love Boris Johnson or hate him, you can’t say that he is boring. “The Fall of Boris Johnson” takes us through the trials and tribulations of Johnson’s premiership. Through COVID, Partygate, Ukraine and all the Parliamentary issues that ultimately led to Johnson leaving office in 2022.
It is a very readable and unbiased book that is well-researched and full of quotes from people around Number 10 at the time. Sebastian Payne leaves it up to the reader whether this fall from grace was inevitable or Johnson was just unfortunate.
Whatever your political leaning, this is a great and interesting read.
by Vicuña
Sebastian Payne’s account of Boris as PM and the events that caused his downfall is, frankly, unbelievable. By which I mean it’s difficult to comprehend how a self centred buffoon managed to become PM and then turn a swell of tide fir him into one totally against him. His duplicity, lies and lack of leadership skills and ability really beggar belief. He was surrounded by leagues of yes men and didn’t have the nous to use judgement and intellect to make appointments and take advice.
I have little doubt that the account is honest and accurate. Which makes it even more frightening to think that the Government is comprised, in the main, of people who are there only to further their personal interests. Few come out of the account well and the lack of integrity is remarkable. If you have any interest in social history and politics, this is a real eye opener and a very interesting companion volume to Anthony Seldon’s Boris at number 10. Well written and a compelling read.