Boris has failed to fight wokeness

Gender ideology and identity politics have flourished on his watch.

Many voters who helped Boris Johnson to huge electoral success in 2019 wanted change. Red Wall voters hoped for a government that might better reflect their hopes and interests. But time and again they have been left disappointed. One of the prime minister’s most notable failures has been his inability to put up a fight in the culture wars. Under his leadership, the Conservative government has done little to stem the tide of woke policies and practices.

We have had some bluster, of course. Talking heads deliver anti-woke soundbites on demand. Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg is permanently up for a fight against ‘wokery’ in the civil service, most recently declaring war on ‘absurd’ staff-training courses, including one called ‘Check yo’ privilege’. Culture secretary Nadine Dorries can be relied on to put the boot into the ‘left-wing snowflakes’ who are ‘killing comedy, tearing down historic statues’ and ‘removing books from universities’. Former party chair Oliver Dowden crossed the Atlantic to tell us that the new Maoism promoted by ‘woke warriors’ was ‘pernicious’.