‘He’s really funny’: Inside the weird world of Boris Johnson’s book launch

The former prime minister was in welcome territory as he calls lockdown gathering inquiry a “put-up job”, writes Holly Evans

Appearing onstage with his signature rumpled hair and an ill-fitted suit, former prime minister Boris Johnson was met with cheers of applause by a thousand-strong crowd who had gathered to mark the release of his 750-page memoir Unleashed.

With no recordings or filming allowed and journalists dotted out among members of the public, it was soon apparent that Johnson was in welcome territory. The room was filled to bursting with devoted supporters, who seemed entirely unperturbed that their hero had left Downing Street in disgrace after multiple scandals, which included him being fined for attending boozy gatherings during lockdown.

Johnson doubled down on his belief that he should not have issued a ‘grovelling’ apology over the lockdown gatherings (The Independent)

Detailing his period in power, his memoir details how he felt the EU treated the UK with “malice and spite” over vaccines, sees him defend the £350m claim splashed on a Brexit campaign bus and makes the bizarre claim that he had been the man to try and persuade Prince Harry to remain in the Royal Family.

Among the more controversial points in his book is his regret at apologising for attending a number of lockdown parties at No 10, despite the country being under strict social distancing rules with thousands of elderly patients dying alone in overcrowded hospitals.

Doubling down in front of his audience, he insisted he should not have issued a “grovelling” apology, adding: “What that meant was that the public had accepted in advance all of the allegations that been made, despite many of them not being true.”

For many – particularly those who lost loved ones during the pandemic – Johnson’s words only add insult to injury. Yet among those who had gathered at The Centaur on Thursday evening – a pavilion-style venue at Cheltenham Racecourse – his words were met with cheers from an adoring crowd.

Boris Johnson with the Vote Leave campaign bus (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Archive)

One woman, who had arrived two hours ahead of the event to ensure she could secure a £30 signed copy of Johnson’s book, took selfies and asked a security guard if they’d met him. When asked if she was an admirer, she fanned herself and responded breathily: “I think he’s really funny.”

Among the audience, one man dressed in tweed stressed to his partner that Johnson was “the only man to sort out the immigrants”. Yet it was on the topic of immigration where the former PM faced one of his trickier moments of the evening – at one point he was asked if it was “a betrayal” that people had voted for Brexit, but were then met with record levels of immigration in 2022.

After blustering that the country had succeeded in “taking back control” over its borders, he soon conceded that during the post-pandemic period he “overdid it” due to the demands of inflation, which saw an enormous influx of people move to the UK.

Seizing her moment when Times columnist Juliet Samuel pressed him on this topic, one woman stood up from the back of the crowd and shouted down: “I think everyone should know you’re an amazing person – you shouldn’t let them put you down.”

Similar moments of support appeared during his continued insistence that he had committed no wrongdoing in attending lockdown gatherings, with cheers erupting when he stated his belief that Sue Gray’s report had been a “put up job”.

The former prime minister was met with cheers and applause from the crowd (James Manning/PA) (PA Wire)

In her summary, the senior civil servant who went on to become Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff found that Johnson had attended eight events and that there had been “failures of leadership and judgement in No 10 and the Cabinet Office”.

And despite the national debacles that followed after the Partygate revelations, and the Chris Pincher and Owen Paterson scandals, no jeers were heard from the crowd when Johnson acknowledged his mistakes.

“I do put my hands up to the failures you identify. I do think I mishandled all three of those things,” he said. “I tried to explain as clearly as I can what I got wrong. Of course, I regret it and I apologised for it.

“Because I am now in the happy position of being able to say exactly what I think … in my own personal behaviour I don’t think I did anything wrong.”

Echoing his comments to the BBC earlier this week, he skirted around the topic of returning to mainstream politics, joking there was a greater chance of being "blinded by a champagne cork" – a phrase similar to one he used when asked about his political ambitions before getting to Downing Street.

Yet while many of those might rebuke or view with horror the suggestion of Johnson taking centre stage in government again, it is clear that for those desperate to pay £50 this evening, that is certainly not the case.

After taking a few rather timid questions from members of the public, one which included what advice he would give to another leader, the event drew to a close with Johnson sloping off the stage clutching his red wine. “He’s simply marvellous,” one elderly woman told her friend. “I might be more of a David Cameron woman”, the other responded. Cheltenham politics at its finest.