Character

How to tell a politician’s true strength of character ? If we look beyond appearances, it can be split into three parts. Resilience, ability to make decisions and an independence of mind. Corbyn is strong on the first and the third: with Johnson it is even difficult to see enough of the real Boris to say for sure.

So let us look at the past. What does it tell us about the two men’s characters? What are those qualities we look for?

There is resilience, a bulldog spirit stick-to-your guns ability to withstand pressure. Assuming a good game plan exists, have the will to follow it, step up to the plate, dig in and hold your own against the most tremendous pressure, stand fast against opposition and criticism. Grow a thick skin in order to decisively steer your course of action through. Defend it in hostile interviews. Could you, when Prime Minister, hold your own and stand strong for Britain against Trump or Putin?

Sometimes though a game plan needs changing. The second type of strength is therefore the making of proactive decisions, the ability to not just question yourself but to then find an answer to such questions. Rather than just resolve, it requires thought and careful examination of the options, the doing of one’s homework.

Independence of mind is probably the rarest quality in politics at the moment. Not doing or saying what other people expect is uncommon— whether this is disagreeing with the party line or refusing to be opportunistic. It is the courage of rocking the boat, of not telling people what they want to hear.

So — how do Johnson and Corbyn measure up?

Corbyn’s resilience has hardened over the four years of being attacked from all sides. (He derives constant encouragement from the members, from their enthusiasm, and sees himself as just one part of the wider movement.) The number of exceptionally hostile meetings, interviews and press conferences he must have been involved by now probably runs well into three figures. The British media is also a fearsome force: it is said that being public enemy number one broke David Kelly within days and Andrew Mitchell within weeks: yet Corbyn is still going strong.

His strongest suit is independence of mind, an integrity of sorts. It would have been so easy, for example, to totally refute all his pre-2015 associations, declare his opinions to have changed and condemn his former ‘friends’ in the IRA, Hamas, Hezbollah and other groups. Or to embrace zero tolerance and tougher punishment— whether in the party disciplinary procedures or when dealing with terrorist suspects. Or to go gung-ho pro-Remain years ago and crush the Lib Dem revival. Or, even, to play along with Tony Blair and New Labour. There is a certain bravery, certain authenticity to his refusal to do so, the determination to still speak his mind on occasions. Here is a leader resistant to opportunism, resistant to groupthink, not willing to say what people wish to hear. The strength of character this must require is considerable.

The weakness comes with the making of decisions, changing of strategies and game plans. It is when he is not sure of what to do that he flounders, unsure where to turn, what course of action to pursue. For instance, the very question of how much to compromise his beliefs is one that vexed him all along and underpinned his meanderings on Brexit, NATO, Trident and other issues. It is that that has been exploited (‘dither and delay’) by opponents. On Brexit, on antisemitism, on a number of issues he needed to grasp the nettle earlier and formulate a clear new effective and popular strategy. Instead, he sat around biding his time and waiting for a choice to present itself — not a luxury he is likely to have as Prime Minister.

But what of Johnson? The current PM never said or did anything he did not feel to be to his personal advantage and switched sides with the ease the Earl of Warwick might have envied. Famously, he wrote two columns in 2016 — one backing Leave, the other Remain. His whole life is an act, a performance with the aim of propelling him to the top and, as a result, we know little of the person behind it. How resilient would he be under pressure? How eager to take the fight to Putin? No one can tell. The man behind the facade may not relish the fight. Given his fear of facing Andrew Neil and his hiding in a fridge from an interviewer, chances are he would not relish the fight. And, needless to say, it is ludicrous to talk of ‘independence of mind’ when Johnson’s mind is only geared to opportunism.

It is clear he loves the theatre, but how much does he even enjoy the job? How much does he like the daily grind of being prime minister, of having to think, read documents, analyse? From everything we have heard of him, his work ethic is terrible — that means he struggles to even motivate himself to work — and he has a tendency to do everything at the last minute. His sense of discipline is non-existent — witness the way he put Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe further into trouble. These are not traits of a strong character. They do not give one the impression that the person holding them will take well-informed decisions that they understand the significance of.

It speaks volumes that for the Tories, this election isn’t even about Johnson’s personal appeal anymore. They have only one product to sell — Brexit at any costs. It does not matter who, it does not matter how, let’s just achieve Brexit. With that formulation, everything else, even the leader’s personal qualities, become secondary: he is just a figurehead. His media appearances are kept to a minimum and the few that do take place are damage limitation exercises in which he waffles and prevaricates to fill the time. One reason for this approach is Johnson’s famous weakness on detail — he is simply too lazy to memorise his brief. Attempts to describe specifics expose him particularly badly. The specifics of Brexit are for him an alien territory.

Likewise, Labour, for all the pictures of Corbyn walking among adoring crowds and speaking to packed rooms, insist it is also not about the leader. It is about the movement, the people, the empowerment of individuals. Perhaps it is also an attempt to appeal to those (typically older) voters the leader puts off. Some people love strong leaders, boss figures, not softly spoken grandfathers from North London. The media carefully cultivates this view, with the result that many voters dislike Corbyn without being able to give any real reason for it.

The reality is however what it is. As Prime Minister, Corbyn is far likely to be tough and uncompromising than weak and malleable. Johnson, ultimately, will only do the bare minimum to stay in power.