Last week, Boris Johnson finally resigned as Prime Minister. 

In his 2 years and 348 days in office, Johnson actively attacked democracy with legislation like the Elections Act and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act. At the same time, he was tearing through our long held democratic institutions, norms, and conventions at an alarming rate.

We’ve compiled our ten most memorable moments when Johnson nearly broke our democracy. Scroll to the bottom to find out how we can stop it happening again.

1) When he illegally shut down parliament

In September 2019, relatively new in post, Johnson set the tone for his time as PM with a desperate attempt to shut down parliament for five weeks. His aim was to avoid scrutiny on the Brexit legislation he was trying to force through at the time.

The move was later ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court, but only after a complex legal battle. 

Our parliament provides vital checks and balances on the activity of the government, but this episode proved how vulnerable it can be in the hands of a hostile Prime Minister. We can’t risk repeating this episode - or something worse.

2) When he let a bully keep their job

The prorogation of parliament set the tone for the rest of the Johnson era, and his contempt for integrity was in evidence deep inside his own government.

In 2021, an independent investigation found that Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, was treating her Civil Service team so badly that her behaviour amounted to bullying.

These are serious accusations in any workplace. Sir Alex Allen, who lead the investigation, concluded that Patel’s behaviour had broken the Ministerial Code.

Patel was an important ally for Johnson at the time, and so he ignored the code and kept her in post. In doing so he sent a message to the public that the usual rules don’t apply to powerful people, and to all ministers that they will suffer no consequences for bullying their staff.

3) When he endorsed cronyism at the heart of government

In October 2021 Kathryn Stone, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, found Owen Paterson MP in serious breach of lobbying rules. The Standards Committee then recommended that he be banned from the Commons for 30 sitting days. 

So what did Johnson do? He tried to abolish the cross party Standards Committee and replace it with a Tory-led alternative.

It’s only because the opposition parties rebelled and some Conservative backbench MPs voiced their concerns that these plans were thwarted. We shouldn’t have to rely on ad-hoc interventions to stop the worst excesses of our governments. 

4) When he changed the Ministerial Code to protect himself

Not content with ignoring the existing Ministerial Code, Johnson also decided to publish a new version just after the publication of Sue Gray’s inquiry into those lockdown parties.

This was a Prime Minister literally changing the rules to suit himself, in the middle of an inquiry into his own conduct.

5) When he lied to parliament and got away with it

Johnson has repeatedly demonstrated that he is a liar in and outside Parliament.

According to the Ministerial Code, any minister who lies to parliament should resign. Johnson lied to parliament about the parties in Number 10 over lockdown, and yet he remained in post. 

When one politician lies, it undermines trust in all politicians. When a Prime Minister lies to Parliament, it threatens the foundations of democracy.

Again and again, Johnson changed, dodged, and ignored the rules that exist to protect democracy, and got away with it because those rules are seen as optional.

6) When he broke his own laws

Johnson broke the lockdown laws he himself introduced and, eventually, was fined by the Police for it.

Lawmakers cannot be lawbreakers. Any Prime Minister with an ounce of respect for the office would resign after something like this.

Of course, Johnson didn’t resign.

What’s to stop a future Prime Minister following in Johnson’s criminal footsteps?

7) When he decided that ethics are optional

Johnson has had a turbulent relationship with his ethics advisors.

His first, Sir Alex Allan, resigned in protest when Johnson ignored his recommendation and backed Patel over those bullying claims.

He was replaced by Lord Geidt, who eventually threw in the towel after being consulted about a proposal to deliberately break international law and the ministerial code.

After Lord Geidt came… Nobody. Johnson has left the position of ethics advisor vacant since the middle of June and shows no sign of appointing a new one any time soon. 

Our political system is built on the assumption that all Prime Ministers will act with decency. Once again, that assumption has left a gaping hole in our democratic integrity.

8) When he ignored national security advice to put a friend in the Lords

Why was Johnson, as Foreign Secretary, meeting with an ex-KGB agent at the height of the Salisbury poisoning crisis?

We’ll probably never know. What we do know is that, thanks to Johnson, the former agent’s son now sits in the House of Lords

Evgeny Lebedev was nominated for a peerage by Johnson in July 2020. The House of Lords Appointment Committee (HoLAC) paused his appointment after MI5 raised security concerns.

But HoLAC cannot block appointments. Its powers are advisory only. Johnson ignored their concerns, pushed his friend's case and Lebedev was given a Peerage anyway.

Many already perceive the Lords as stuffed with cronies and friends of the powerful. The Lebedev scandal will only cement that perception. What’s to stop a future PM abusing their powers yet further?

9) When he didn’t resign

One of the most shocking weaknesses of a loose constitutional setup is this: When a Prime Minister really doesn’t want to resign, even when his own MPs think he is unfit for office, he really doesn't have to

This was proved by Johnson clinging to power despite an avalanche of Ministerial resignations and loss of support from even some of his closest allies

Eventually, the hopelessness of his position dawned on Johnson, and he reluctantly resigned. But what if he hadn’t? 

Luckily, we’ll never have to find out. The fact is, though, that for a while we were relying on a Conservative backbenchers to rid us of a wayward Prime Minister. That’s no way to run a democracy.

10) When he did resign, but not really

And so on 7th July 2022, through gritted teeth, Johnson finally resigned. 

Well, sort of. 

He is resigning, but he’ll also stay on as leader until the autumn. No one is quite sure how that is going to work.

These constitutional grey areas are bad for democracy, because they make what should be simple look like a murky business.

It also leaves the door open for future Johnsons to further dismantle the checks and balances of our system, by further stuffing the Lords with cronies, dishing out honours to pals, and who knows what else.

How could a written constitution have stopped this?

It’s at times like this that the vulnerability of our system is laid bare. There’s nothing to stop a future Johnson - or worse - clinging to power for even longer still, and wreaking yet more havoc on the country as they do so.

Johnson knew that our unwritten constitution is full of holes and grey areas. That’s why he felt so emboldened to act as he did.

A written constitution could change this - it is the rulebook that our politics is missing.

It would ensure that people’s rights are protected and set limits on the power of the Prime Minister and the Government. 

A written constitution could contain proper rules on how Ministers should behave, and what happens when they don’t. Those rules could be enforceable by an independent body, which would put an end to this kind of rule breaking. It could set out the powers of a new elected House of Lords, and stamp out the cronyism that is rife in appointments and contracts. It could make it clear what happens when a Prime Minister resigns. It would strengthen our system against corrosive uncertainty.

What’s more, if those rules were enshrined in law, the Prime Minister would not be able to change them to suit himself.

A written constitution would make it harder than ever for a rogue Prime Minister to undermine our democracy, and much easier to hold them accountable if they try.