Top Tory's verdict on how Boris Johnson could have survived

Boris Johnson could have survived as prime minister if he had followed his own freedom-loving instincts and not brought in the lockdown rules that doomed his own career, according to one of the central figures in the last 14 years of Tory rule.

Lord Brady may not be a household name but as chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, it was his job to deliver harsh truths to prime ministers and tell them when the game was up.

He has now swapped the Commons for the red benches of the Lords and has a new freedom to speak his mind. He is in no doubt that the worst decision of the Conservative era was shutting down the country in repeated lockdowns.

Not only did this damage children's education and health, hurt the economy and force up NHS waiting lists, he argues, it also paved the way for the "partygate" scandal which plunged Mr Johnson's Downing Street into turmoil.

When asked if the landslide-winning prime minister could have survived, he said: "The simple answer is that I think if Boris had followed his own instincts, which would have been to allow people to make their own decisions, their own choices, then the complex web of restrictions and regulations would not have been in place and he wouldn't have ensnared himself in them."

In published extracts from his new memoir - Kingmaker: Secrets, Lies, and the Truth about Five Prime Ministers - Lord Brady details Mr Johnson's anger when he voiced concerns about the damage to the party caused by top aide Dominic Cummings's alleged lockdown violations. Mr Johnson described backbench MPs as "contemptible" and "spineless chickens---" who owed their election to Mr Cummings.

Today, Lord Brady remains convinced that repeatedly bringing normal life to a halt in a bid to suppress Covid-19 was a mistake.
"The damage that was done to children and young people is something that will have a very serious set of consequences into the future," he said.

He argues that it was "entirely reasonable to lock down first time because we didn't know exactly what we were dealing with" but "we ended up with a set of restrictions that were more appropriate for a virus like Ebola than Covid".

Despite the Conservatives' disastrous summer election result he believes the Tories can return to power next time, and predicts people will find anger at Labour's shock cuts to winter fuel payments "hard to forget".

"I think it's entirely possible for the Conservatives to win the next general election," he said. "Especially, I might add, if Labour carries on as they have started."

A key disappointment is that Tory rule did not result in the expansion of grammar schools. He is one of the most ardent champions of grammar schools in modern politics and quit the Conservative front bench in 2007 to campaign in support of selective schooling.

"We should be the party that's there to help people get on according to their own ability and their own effort," he said. "It jars that we haven't changed that policy and made it possible for more people to have a grammar school education."

He says he did not see evidence of a campaign to oust Liz Truss when she took office. Rather, he argues, MPs were desperate to avoid yet another leadership election and said to each other: "We've got to make this work."

He remembers David Cameron as "perfectly easy to get along with" and speaks with great respect of Theresa May.

"Theresa is somebody who has an unwavering sense of public service," he said. "There were many times that I had disagreements with what she was doing or how she was doing it but I never once doubted why she was doing it."

However, he admits: "This period took its toll on me. I'm not looking for sympathy for me but Theresa May thought I was out to get her."

He has yet to declare whom he will support in the Tory leadership contest but he does not believe the party of Churchill and Thatcher is now ungovernable.

"I don't think so," he said. "If you look over the period of the last 14 years there was a sequence of extraordinary events and pressures."