BORIS Johnson has been one of the “worst prime ministers in our lifetimes”, Nicola Sturgeon has said.
The Scottish First Minister offered a scathing verdict on the outgoing prime minister’s track record after he finally stepped down – two months after he was forced to quit as leader of the Tory Party.
Johnson travelled to the Queen’s private residence of Balmoral on Tuesday to tender his resignation, with Liz Truss being asked to form a government by the monarch soon after.
Before flying to Scotland, Johnson gave a speech on Downing Street where he praised his own achievements, listing Brexit, the Covid vaccine rollout, and supporting Ukraine.
While it contained the coded suggestion that he may seek to return to power, Johnson’s speech made no mention of the cronyism scandals, law-breaking behaviour, or lies which came to define his leadership – and for which he is still under investigation by the Commons Privileges Committee.
Speaking after Johnson’s resignation, Sturgeon said that he had “failed the UK”.
He's not getting off lightly. pic.twitter.com/1edkgaddhX
— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) September 6, 2022
She went on: “I wish him well and I wish his family well as he departs office but I don’t think many people in Scotland are going to be sorry to see him leave the office of prime minister. He perhaps has been the worst prime minister in our lifetimes.
“He had a massive mandate – not in Scotland but in the rest of the UK – and he has squandered it. He has squandered it because he hasn’t had the application or commitment or done the work to deliver in the way that people would have expected him to.
“Now, Scotland never voted for him, but I think many people across the UK will think that he has let down the UK and let down and perhaps in some ways tarnished the office of prime minister.”
A YouGov poll published on September 5, the day which saw Truss named the new leader of the Tory Party, found that a plurality of Britons thought Johnson’s time in government had been “terrible”.
While 39% of people said Johnson had been “terrible”, just 5% said he had been “great”.
Today will be Boris Johnson's last full day as prime minister. Here's how Britons rate his time in charge: Great: 5% Good: 17% Average: 19% Poor: 16% Terrible: 39%https://t.co/hZj6j2Rysj pic.twitter.com/pBhihEmyjd
— YouGov (@YouGov) September 5, 2022
The First Minister’s comments come after she told a crowd at the Edinburgh Fringe that Johnson seemed to think hard work was “beneath him”.
She said in August: “Boris Johnson always gave the impression that he thought the detail, the hard graft of the job, was beneath him, that it was for somebody else to do while he just blustered around.”
The Scottish First Minister said Johnson had rarely bothered to take part in four-nation meetings with the other heads of devolved governments, and when he was present she would find herself having to interject “out of sheer frustration” to bring him back to the topic at hand.
Sturgeon described the outgoing Tory leader’s time running the UK Government as “one long bluster”, adding: “The office of prime minister deserves better.”
