More than seven in ten Britons still describe the former prime minister as “untrustworthy”
Having departed from Downing Street in the summer of 2022, Boris Johnson has nonetheless never been far from the front pages. The latest reason he finds himself in the papers is for the launch of his political memoirs, titled Unleashed, with the former prime minister making a number of headline-friendly claims throughout the publication.
Many of Johnson’s remarks have raised sceptical eyebrows, with the Independent’s review entitled “A memoir that’s twisted, sour and full of yet more lies”. The British public are likewise suspicious of the former PM: in our final tracker poll of his tenure, 76% of Britons described the then prime minister as “untrustworthy”. In a YouGov poll last week, that figure still stood at 72%.
So while the public feel they have reason to doubt Boris Johnson in general, what do they make of the specific claims in Unleashed? A new YouGov poll explores which they believe and which they don’t.
Out of ten claims that from the memoir that we put to the British public, the only two that at least half of Britons say are at least “probably true” are both claims Johnson makes about his own views. One is that he is genuine in his belief that the Conservatives would have triumphed in another general election under his leadership (63% think is definitely or probably true), while the other is that people think Johnson is being sincere when he says he thinks that the ‘partygate’ parties did not breach lockdown rules (51%).
At the other end of the scale, the public are least likely to believe Johnson’s claim that Buckingham Palace asked him to try and convince Prince Harry not to leave the UK with his family – only a quarter of Britons suspect this claim to be definitely or probably legitimate (25%). That Johnson held the self-described “manly pep-talk” with the Duke of Sussex is also the claim the public are most likely to believe is at least probably false, which 46% suspect, with the remaining 29% unsure.
That said, it is not the claim that the largest number of Britons feel is “definitely” untrue – that honour goes to the aforementioned partygate claim, which 24% are convinced is a falsehood.
The much-reported claim that Boris Johnson had considered a military “raid” on the Netherlands to seize covid vaccines that had been delayed for export to the UK is only believed to any extent by 33% of Britons – of whom only 6% consider it “definitely” true – while 42% don’t believe the former prime minister.
Johnson’s suggestion that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu might have bugged his private bathroom while he was foreign secretary under Theresa May splits the public – 30% think it may be true, 33% think it may be false, and 37% are unsure.
The public are likewise divided on Johnson’s claim that while prime minister David Cameron said he would “f*** you up forever” if he did not back the Remain campaign, which 35% come down more on the ‘truth’ side of the line while 31% lean more towards ‘false’.
Other than the two claims about his own beliefs, the only revelations that Britons are notably more likely to think is true rather than false are that he did not know that a British fighter jet had fallen off an aircraft carrier until told by the Queen (43% true, 22% false) and that the Queen had bone cancer for a year before her death (33% true, 22% false).
See the full results on the public's view on the memoir claims here
See results on how trustworthy Britons believe Boris Johnson to be here
What’s your view on Boris Johnson's memoir, his time as prime minister, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Photo: Getty
