---
tipo: politician_profile
lang: en
canonical: https://www.politicaelectoral.com/en/great-britain/politicians/boris-johnson-uk
nombre: Boris Johnson
partido: conservative
generado: 2026-05-02T21:56:57
data_crc: 00ed27d8
---

Boris Johnson is a Conservative politician and former UK prime minister, now a columnist and public speaker outside Parliament.

## Political career

Born in New York in 1964, **Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson** was educated at Eton College and later at Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied Classics and became President of the Oxford Union. He began his career in journalism, working for *The Times*, *The Daily Telegraph* and later becoming editor of *The Spectator*. This media background shaped his later political style: highly communicative, adversarial, and built around wit, performative confidence and public attention.

Johnson entered Parliament as **MP for Henley** in 2001, representing a safe Conservative seat. During this period he established himself as a backbench figure with a high public profile, often appealing to a wider audience than the average MP. In 2008 he won election as **Mayor of London**, defeating the incumbent Labour mayor Ken Livingstone. He was re-elected in 2012, and his mayoralty became one of the defining stages of his career. As mayor, he emphasised transport, infrastructure, the **2012 London Olympics**, and a broadly pro-growth, pro-business image, while also cultivating a more populist, metropolitan brand.

In 2015 he returned to the Commons as **MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip**, standing down as mayor after completing two terms. His parliamentary resurgence came as the Conservative Party was increasingly divided over Europe. Johnson became one of the most visible advocates of leaving the European Union during the 2016 referendum campaign. Following the referendum result, he was appointed **Foreign Secretary** by Theresa May, serving from 2016 to 2018. He resigned from that role amid Cabinet divisions over Brexit strategy, strengthening his image as a campaigner but also as a politician often in conflict with the government of the day.

In July 2019 he became **Leader of the Conservative Party** and **Prime Minister of the United Kingdom**, having won the internal contest after May’s resignation. His premiership was dominated first by the effort to **“get Brexit done”**, then by the **COVID-19 pandemic**, and later by growing controversy over standards, honesty and discipline in government. He secured a large Conservative majority in the **2019 general election**, capturing many former Labour seats in the North and Midlands. However, his government was later engulfed by **Partygate**, the scandal over social gatherings in government during lockdown, and he resigned as party leader in 2022 after losing political support. He remained MP until 2023, when he stepped down from the Commons. He is now outside Parliament, working as a columnist and speaker.

## Relationship with the public

Johnson has long had a distinctive relationship with the electorate: he is one of the most recognisable British politicians of his generation and has often relied on **charisma, humour and media performance** rather than traditional party discipline. His appeal has frequently crossed class and regional lines, especially during the 2019 election when he presented himself as a champion of Brexit and a politician willing to challenge the Westminster consensus.

He has also been unusually dependent on the media. His journalism background gave him strong instincts for television and newspaper politics, and he has often framed issues in simple, memorable slogans. This made him effective in campaigns, but also exposed him to criticism from opponents and some within his own party, who saw him as inconsistent or overly theatrical. Among the public, he has often generated strong reactions in both directions: admiration from supporters who see him as energetic and effective, and mistrust from critics who regard him as evasive and calculating.

Civil society groups and public-service institutions have frequently had an ambivalent view of him. During his time as mayor, many Londoners credited him with visible changes in transport and investment, while others criticised him for political symbolism over administrative detail. As prime minister, his style of direct appeal to voters sat uneasily alongside repeated allegations from critics that he showed insufficient respect for rules and institutions, particularly during the pandemic period.

## Positions and political profile

Johnson is generally associated with **cultural conservatism, pro-market instincts, free-trade rhetoric and pragmatic populism**. He has not presented himself as a doctrinaire ideologue. Instead, his politics often combine conventional Conservative themes with a readiness to break from orthodoxies if politically advantageous. He is especially known for his role in delivering Brexit, which became the central defining issue of his national career.

As prime minister, he prioritised several themes: completing Brexit, raising public spending in key areas such as health and infrastructure, and promoting “levelling up” in neglected parts of the country. His 2019 majority was built on a coalition of traditional Conservative voters, Leave समर्थकों, and many former Labour voters who felt disconnected from Labour’s leadership. This made him, for a time, electorally successful in places where Conservatives had struggled for decades.

Johnson’s critics within and outside the Conservative Party often describe him as **tactically brilliant but strategically unreliable**. Supporters argue that he is a persuasive campaigner able to connect with voters who feel ignored by political elites. Critics point to his record of broken commitments, controversial remarks and recurring questions about judgement. His leadership during COVID-19 was marked by major decisions on lockdowns, vaccines and public spending, but also by deep political damage caused by the Partygate scandal and subsequent investigations.

Key defining moments include:
- leading the pro-Brexit campaign in 2016;
- taking a hard line on delivering Brexit as prime minister;
- winning the 2019 general election with a message of national renewal and completion of Brexit;
- his government’s pandemic response;
- and the collapse of authority that followed Partygate.

He remains a significant figure in modern Conservative politics, but one whose legacy is highly contested. Among Conservatives, he is viewed by some as a winner who expanded the party’s reach, and by others as a destabilising figure whose personal style repeatedly undermined trust in government.

## Frequently asked questions

**What is Boris Johnson’s current role?** He is no longer in the House of Commons and currently works as a columnist and public speaker.

**Which party does Boris Johnson belong to?** He is a member of the **Conservative Party**, also known as the Tories.

**When was Boris Johnson Prime Minister?** He served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from **2019 to 2022**.

**What was Boris Johnson’s role in Brexit?** He was one of the most prominent advocates of leaving the EU and later made delivering Brexit the central objective of his premiership.

**Why did Boris Johnson resign as Prime Minister?** He resigned in 2022 after losing political support within his party, following a series of scandals and the damage caused by **Partygate**.

**What jobs did Boris Johnson hold before becoming Prime Minister?** He was **Mayor of London** from 2008 to 2016 and **Foreign Secretary** from 2016 to 2018, having previously been MP for **Henley** and later **Uxbridge and South Ruislip**.