The first six months of Johnson’s premiership were chiefly concerned with Brexit. Over these months, he negotiated a renewed deal for Britain to leave the EU and attempted to break the parliamentary deadlock. Controversially, he attempted to prorogue Parliament in September 2019, but the attempt was annulled by the Supreme Court. Over the weeks that followed, Parliament debated, and eventually voted against a No Deal Brexit. Johnson expelled Conservative rebels from the party.

With Brexit postponed, Johnson called a general election that took place in December 2019. He promised to ‘Get Brexit Done’ and made ambitious pledges to ‘level up’ the deprived areas of England. The election was a landslide victory for the Conservatives. Britain duly left the EU on 31 January 2020.

The next year was largely concerned with the Covid-19 pandemic. Johnson’s government took unprecedented steps to lockdown the country to prevent the spread of the disease and delivered enormous packages of economic relief. Johnson himself was taken seriously ill with Covid and was briefly hospitalised in April 2020. A vaccination drive commenced from December 2020. However, there was much criticism of Johnson’s pandemic leadership.

In late 2021, western intelligence agencies reported that Russia planned to invade and destroy Ukraine. Johnson supported Ukraine with military aid and warned Russia against an invasion. The Russian government loudly denied any such plan. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Johnson vocally supported Ukraine, sent military aid, and encouraged the western powers to provide military support and impose sanctions on Russia. As a consequence, Johnson was very popular in Ukraine, and visited Kyiv on 9 April, the first western leader to do so after the invasion.

Towards the end of 2021, a chain of events began that led to the end of Johnson’s premiership in October. He supported a parliamentary motion to block the suspension of an MP, but reversed his decision in the face of public outrage. In December, there were media revelations about social gatherings in Downing Street during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Over the months that followed, further reports came. In July 2022, after the resignation of the Chief Whip, Christopher Pincher, it was revealed that Johnson had been aware of complaints about Pincher but had not acted.

On 5 July, just after 6pm, both the Health Secretary and the Chancellor resigned. Over the course of the day and a half that followed, there was a cascade of resignations. Ultimately, 62 government ministers resigned. On 7 July 2022, Johnson resigned.

‘I am now being forced out of parliament by a tiny handful of people, with no evidence to back up their assertions, and without the approval even of Conservative party members let alone the wider electorate. I believe that a dangerous and unsettling precedent is being set.’

Ultimately, a House of Commons committee report censured Boris Johnson in the summer of the following year. The report was endorsed by the House of Commons by 354-7.