3 Reasons why Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary could be a stroke of political genius for Theresa May Ryan Follow Jul 14, 2016 · 4 min read

For the past three weeks in politics the general rule of thumb has been to expected the unexpected. However in a week where we have already completed a Tory leadership and acquired Theresa May as our new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson as foreign secretary really was a huge blindside to the political anoraks glued to the pavement opposite the door of 10 Downing Street.

Jovial Boris is more used to parading around London on a bicycle or hanging precariously from zip-lines, in fact his only real memorable foreign policy achievement is flattening a small Japanese boy playing rugby. So it’s no surprise then, when Jeremy Corbyn challenger Angela Eagle learnt that the man who said President Obama had an ingrained dislike of Britain because of his Kenyan ancestry, had become foreign secretary, she could not hold back her exasperated groans of terror. You’d be forgiven for thinking that Boris Johnson in the FCO is going to be an unmitigated disaster for Theresa May’s foreign policy and reversing the slide of Britain’s reputation in to an international laughing stock, however there are a few reasons as to why this may not be that case.

Standing up for British interests wherever they arise

Firstly, appointing Boris Johnson as a high profile Foreign Secretary from a purely politico-strategic view within the May cabinet has numerous advantages. Boris’s exploits as the leader of the Leave campaign won him many supporters both from traditional Labour voters who voted Leave and may have looked to switch allegiances toward UKIP at the next election to both uphold the Brexit mandate, and protest at Parliamentary Labour’s inability to stand up for their interests at Westminster. Boris in the FCO could possibly open up a new demographic for the Tories with these voters to help consolidate power in the next election by ending the rise of UKIP as an insurgent right wing threat and weaken Labour in its traditional heartlands. May’s opening speech as PM so focused on inequality opened up the rhetorical scope for this strategy to make inroads.

Secondly, in the unlikely event the going starts to get tough for the government in the Brexit negotiations, Boris’s popular image as the Leaver’s messiah will allow May to deflect much of the disillusion on to Johnson making him a potentially wonderful sacrificial lamb, with the added side benefit of severely damaging his political credibility and any attempts at a leadership bid.

Thirdly, Theresa May was a Remainer (if a reluctant one), she has promised that “Brexit means Brexit” and delivered the phrase in a distinctly assured fashion that can only be confidently used when delivering a policy that seems definitive in a soundbite but is ultimately protean in its make up. It’s been speculated that Boris Johnson never even wanted to Leave the EU, he seemed to offer no nuanced argument you’d expect from the key Leaver during the campaign and only seemed to jump on board with faux conviction in an attempt to take the quick route to Downing Street. Boris in an article for the telegraph immediately after the referendum result seemed to backtrack very quickly on issues like immigration and instead stressed the benefits of sovereignty and trade. Exactly the kind of relationship with Europe a downgrade of the UK’s membership to only participating in the European Economic Area (EEA) would look like.

The various differences between the UK as a member of the EU and as possible EEA member

The question is where the real power lies, if the vehement Eurosceptics such as David Davis and Liam Fox now in key Brexit negotiating positions are primarily superficial to appease Leavers or that indeed the great office of state where Johnson now resides has been made redundant overnight in the greatest political crisis Britain has faced in decades.

If Johnson’s possible wish to have an EEA style deal for the UK is the path he intends to pursue and therefore influence the Brexiteers, it may well satisfy the millions that voted remain and stop more liberal-internationalist minded Tories from abandoning ship; in addition to those (typically younger) leave voters that voted mainly on the issue of sovereignty and accountability and aren’t too concerned with the immigration debate. Theresa May’s Brexit deal in Boris’s vision could actually be enough to unite the majority of the country behind her and without the economic suicide that would be withdrawal from the single market, save it from financially imploding as well.