Unleashed – Johnson Boris (2024)

Boris Johnson’s unvarnished memoirs trace his fifteen years in politics, from defeating Ken Livingstone to become mayor of London through his career as a journalist, two terms as mayor, leading the Vote Leave Brexit campaign, serving as foreign secretary and becoming Britain’s prime minister. He recalls riots, knife crime, bikes, buses, the London Olympics, Brexit and the major decisions that shaped his career, as well as his near-fatal battle with Covid. Johnson describes winning the largest Tory majority since 1987 with a mandate to “Get Brexit Done”, only to see his administration struck by the global pandemic and brought down in a Tory putsch. Written in his inimitable style, the book offers his candid reflections on people, policies, mistakes and triumphs, while setting out his belief that the UK is an extraordinary country with an exceptional future. At the heart of his political outlook is the idea of levelling up: that millions of people in Britain lack the present and future they deserve, and that correcting this is the first duty of politicians. This is his account of events, “warts and all”, from the realities of power to the personal experiences behind them.