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Boris Johnson

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Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Latest news, in-depth features and opinion on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The Conservative Party politician has been PM since July 2019. He previously held the position of foreign secretary between 2016 and 2018.
Born
19 Jun 1964
Industry
Politics
Job Title
Former Prime Minister of Britain
Since 1987, nine million people have taken part in the Erasmus scheme. Photo: Shutterstock
Britain

‘Big step forward’: UK rejoins Erasmus exchange programme in post-Brexit reset

After a five-year absence, the UK returns to the EU study abroad scheme, with 100,000 people estimated to benefit in the first year alone.

Britain

‘Follow me’: UK’s Starmer launches TikTok account despite security ban

Britain

UK ex-PM Johnson hits back at ‘incoherent’ Covid inquiry report

Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

‘Too little, too late’: former UK government slammed for initial Covid response

Inquiry concludes the failure to implement restrictions a week earlier led to one of Europe’s deadliest outbreaks.

The National Covid Memorial Wall in London. Photo: EPA
BBC

Explainer | How scandals at the BBC have rocked its leadership over the years

The BBC is frequently the source of criticism for its coverage and has also been ensnared in scandals that happened off the air.

Britain

UK deputy PM quits over tax error, prompting cabinet shake-up

Angela Rayner is the eighth – and most senior – ministerial departure from PM Keir Starmer’s team, and the most damaging yet.

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Britain

My Take | Don’t blame China’s Jingye for failing to save UK steel industry

There was no communist plot behind British Steel’s collapse. If anything, the government takeover may amount to nationalising Chinese property.

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British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant in northern England, Britain, March 31, 2025. Photo: Reuters
Britain

Farage aims to ‘overtake’ Labour as Reform UK membership tops 200,000

Nigel Farage called the growth ‘extraordinary’ after Reform UK unveiled its membership counter late last year.

Britain

Membership of UK’s anti-immigration Reform party overtakes Conservatives

Party leader Nigel Farage hailed ‘historic moment’ as membership tally ticked past 131,680 figure declared earlier in year by Conservatives.

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Britain

UK PM Starmer’s chief of staff quits over reports about salary

Sue Gray’s resignation came after recent BBC report that her annual salary was US$223,000, about US$3,933 more than the PM’s.

Downing Street Chief of Staff Sue Gray. Photo: AFP
Britain

BBC cancels interview with Boris Johnson after ‘embarrassing’ mistake

A BBC presenter accidentally sent Johnson the notes prepared for her questions, in a message meant for her team.

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Former British prime minister Boris Johnson was expected to discuss his government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the parties in Downing Street that contributed to the end of his premiership. Photo: AP
China-UK relations

Exclusive | Peter Mandelson on why Britain’s sudden U-turn on China was a big ‘mistake’

The close Starmer adviser says ‘violent’ shifts in diplomatic direction are not realistic or sensible.

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Britain

New UK government cuts billions of pounds of spending to fix ‘unsustainable’ finances

Finance minister Rachel Reeves announces spending cuts of US$7 billion, pencils in further cuts of US$10.4 billion and hints at tax rises.

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Britain

Un-purr-turbed: Larry the cat training another UK prime minister in Downing Street

British prime ministers come and go at the premier’s official residence, 10 Downing Street. But the real power remains unchanged – Larry the cat.

Larry the cat, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, is training his sixth prime minister. Photo: AP
Britain

Patel and Badenoch launch UK Conservative Party leadership bids

Priti Patel and Kemi Badenoch join 4 others, including former home secretary James Cleverly, in race to replace Rishi Sunak as party leader.

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Former UK home secretary Priti Patel. Photo: AFP / Jessica Taylor / UK Parliament
Britain

Covid-19 inquiry finds UK ‘ill-prepared’ for pandemic, failed its citizens

The inquiry found an outdated 2011 pandemic strategy for flu wasn’t flexible enough to adapt to a crisis nearly a decade later, and was abandoned almost immediately.

Africa

Rwanda says UK migrant deal did not stipulate return of funds

London paid Kigali US$306 million before new UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared the deportation scheme ‘dead and buried’.

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Britain

Opinion | Don’t expect a Labour government to fix broken Britain

Failed post-Brexit promises, successive scandals and poor economic gambles have allowed populism to threaten Britain’s political system.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Britain

In final days before the UK election, defiant Sunak insists he can stay in power

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insisted the Conservatives can still win Thursday’s UK election despite multiple polls pointing to a commanding victory by the opposition Labour Party.

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Britain

UK election betting scandal widens as a fourth Tory official reportedly investigated

Chief data officer Nick Mason has taken leave of absence, British media reported, as Gambling Commission investigates alleged betting on election date.

China-UK relations

UK’s MI5 issued Chinese spy alert to distract from PM scandal, court hears

Lawyer Christine Lee is suing MI5 for unspecified damages, arguing the British spy agency had acted unlawfully and unreasonably by branding her a Chinese agent.

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Christine Lee. File photo: British Chinese Project via AFP
Britain

Opinion | With July 4 UK election call, Rishi Sunak has made a losing bet

While the Conservatives should never be underestimated as a political force, the party is badly divided heading into the six-week election campaign. Try as he might, Sunak has been unable to change the UK’s political weather.

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The private reaction of many Conservative MPs was bemusement at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s election announcement in pouring rain outside 10 Downing Street on May 22, a picture that has drawn unfavourable commentary and cheeky headlines. Photo: TNS
Profile

Boris Johnson’s youngest brother on Hong Kong, Covid, China film

Max Johnson, half-brother of former British prime minister Boris Johnson, talks about his UK childhood, Covid-19 frustrations, being a banker in Hong Kong, and a special trip through mainland China.

Britain

Ex-deputy of UK’s Conservatives defects to populist party Reform UK

Lee Anderson was suspended as a Conservative MP in Parliament after he claimed that Islamists had ‘got control’ of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, amid tensions over the Israel-Gaza war.

Britain

Ex-UK PM Theresa May, brought down by Brexit, to quit as lawmaker

May said on Friday she will not stand for re-election, ending a 27-year career in parliament marked by a tumultuous spell leading the country as it tore itself apart over Brexit.

Britain’s former Prime Minister Theresa May announced that she will stand down as a member of parliament at the next general election, due to take place later this year. Photo: AFP
Britain

‘Obvious it isn’t working’: London mayor says Brexit cost UK over US$178 billion

Sadiq Khan said Britain’s departure from the EU reduced the size of its economy by 6 per cent, basing his statement on a report he commissioned from consultants Cambridge Econometrics.

London mayor Sadiq Khan says that Brexit cost the UK US$178 billion. Photo: Reuters
Britain

Sunak eyes UK election in ‘second half’ of 2024, Starmer tells PM ‘bring it on’

Sunak, whose Conservative Party has been in power since 2010, has until the end of January 2025 to call a much-anticipated general election.

Britain

‘Make Britain great’: right-wing upstarts threaten UK Tories

Reform UK – formerly Brexit Party and whose leader admires Donald Trump – rails against immigration, net zero energy policies, ‘nanny state’ regulations.

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