A week after his departure from the British Parliament, Boris Johnson became, Friday, June 16, columnist for the conservative tabloid DailyMail. The daily specialist in rowdy front pages against environmentalists, the administration or Prince Harry, ardently supported the former Prime Minister throughout the scandal of the parties organized in Downing Street during the confinements linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. .
The day after the publication of a parliamentary report acknowledging him guilty of having lied to Parliament and accusing him of attacks on democracy, the newspaper claimed in a front page on Friday that it had recruited a mysterious “new scholarly columnist” whose comments will be awaited “in Westminster and around the world”. THE DailyMail confirmed the obvious during the day: it will be Boris Johnson, who will publish an editorial every Saturday in his columns, starting this week.
In a video published on the newspaper’s website, he promises: “I will say exactly what I think. » He also specifies that he plans to talk about politics ” as little as possible “. This activity will bring him significant media visibility, he who entered into open war against his successor Rishi Sunak and did not rule out a return.
Early career in the press
It will also represent a source of comfortable income for Boris Johnson, who turns 59 on Monday, is about to have an eighth child and has just bought a mansion near Oxford. Politico claims that he will earn several hundred thousand euros a year. These sums will be added to the millions that his speeches in conferences have brought in since his departure from Downing Street.
But his hiring has already been scrutinized by the commission responsible for supervising the appointments of elected officials in the private sector in order to avoid conflicts of interest. The latter felt that it had not been notified in time to issue an opinion. “A request received thirty minutes before the announcement of a nomination represents a clear violation of the rules”, said a spokeswoman. A spokesperson for Boris Johnson assured that he was ” in touch “ with the commission – which cannot impose a sanction – and that “normal procedures” were respected.
Before devoting himself to politics as mayor of London and in several governments, Boris Johnson had started as a trainee journalist at the Times through family relationships. He was quickly fired for a made-up quote. In 1989 he became Brussels correspondent for the Daily Telegraphwhere he criticized the European institutions, before becoming a political columnist in London for this conservative daily and the magazine The Spectator.
