High Taxes and Record Migration: The Real Boris Legacy
He’s back in the spotlight predicting a Tory revival, but Britain is still living with the consequences of his time in office
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resurfaced with a new media appearance — this time on GB News — claiming that the “completely mad” Reform UK will plummet to zero per cent in the polls as he predicts a Tory recovery.
For a man who once defined Conservative optimism, it’s a striking return to the spotlight.
But is this a serious attempt to shape the party’s future — or simply Boris testing the water for a comeback?
The Tories’ Crisis of Confidence
The Conservative Party is in turmoil. Reform UK consistently tops the polls, outpolling the Tories. The latest Ipsos Political Monitor has Reform at 34%, with the Conservatives back in third place at 14%.
Week after week, Reform is picking up council seats across the country.
The reason is simple: Reform is surging because of Boris Johnson.
Under his leadership, Britain saw higher taxes and higher immigration — the complete opposite of what traditional Conservative voters believe in.
The disillusionment that built Reform UK was born in Downing Street.
The Communicator Who Over-Promised
Nobody doubts Boris Johnson’s communication skills. He makes people laugh, simplifies complexity, and fills a room with optimism.
In 2019, that mattered — “Get Brexit Done” was simple, emotional, and effective.
But words are easy. Delivery is hard.
And once in Downing Street, Johnson’s populism ran headfirst into reality.
Taxes rose to the highest post-war burden
Public spending ballooned
And immigration reached record levels.
The so-called “Boris Wave” of migration still defines today’s numbers.
Between 2021 and 2024, net migration outstripped the entire 26 years from 1981–2007 — as I explored in detail here.
When a politician builds their appeal on trust me to deliver what you voted for — and then doesn’t — the damage is deeper than any scandal or soundbite.
Net Zero and the Cost of Boris’s Green Gamble
One of the least discussed parts of Johnson’s record is his unquestioning embrace of Net Zero — a policy that has quietly reshaped Britain’s energy system and its household bills.
In August 2021, the demolition of SSE’s Ferrybridge coal power plant was hailed as a “symbolic moment” by then-COP26 President Alok Sharma.
Johnson’s government proudly oversaw the destruction of infrastructure that had provided reliable domestic energy for decades, just before an era of global energy shocks.
The symbolism was powerful, but so were the consequences:
Britain lost dispatchable power capacity
Energy prices spiked.
Industrial competitiveness weakened.
For millions of households, Net Zero isn’t a climate slogan — it’s a line on their energy bill.
And while Reform UK calls for a rethink on energy policy, Boris pushed the decisions that helped create the current crisis, which the Labour Party is now continuing.
His Net Zero zeal may have played well in elite circles, but to ordinary families facing high bills, it feels like a betrayal of common sense.
Populism Without Delivery
Johnson’s rise was built on optimism. He told Britain that everything would be better.
What the country got instead was chaos and drift, and a government defined more by scandal than substance. The pandemic gave him cover for a while, but it also exposed the lack of discipline beneath the personality.
By 2022, voters weren’t angry because they disliked Boris. They were angry because they believed him once, and once that spell breaks, it doesn’t return.
Now, as he tries to reclaim the populist mantle, Johnson faces a simple truth: voters don’t need Boris to promise what Reform UK is already saying with conviction.
Many of those who once backed him have moved on — not because they reject optimism, but because they’ve heard it all before. The Tory base doesn’t need another slogan; it needs delivery. And Boris can’t rewrite his record to pretend otherwise.
Legacy and Lessons
Boris Johnson’s defenders will say he was dealt a bad hand — Covid, war, inflation.
But leadership is judged by outcomes, not excuses.
Under his watch, Britain saw record migration, record taxation and a costly energy policy that weakened national resilience. Some paint him as the answer to the Conservatives’ decline. The truth is harsher: the party is still paying the price for the trust he burned.
He won power through optimism, but lost it through over-promising.
The charm that once looked like leadership now feels like nostalgia.
When you have the keys to the car and take the public on a journey they didn’t want, they’re not going to trust you to drive again.
✍️ Jamie Jenkins
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It's actually worse than Jamie says. Dominic Cummings pointed out that whilst Johnson was elected on a ticket of civil service reform - in retrospect badly needed - he jacked in the idea because he complacently thought that he'd walk reelection because Starmer was useless (partly right tbf).
He said on Triggernometry that he embraced the green stuff when he was flying over Africa and he saw lots of fires from the air, noting the impact of humans on the planet. This is the same degrowth, anti-natalist argument that has been around for ages, that by design reduces living standards. Johnson presented his greenery as a road to prosperity though.
It strongly appears that he wanted to be PM so he could make some speeches, accept adoration and be the guest of honour in the London social circuit. Can't do that by rocking the boat.
Unfortunately, the boat needs rocking, and he promised he would rock it. Obviously, as Jamie says, he didn't
I have a sneaking suspicion that the newly married Mrs J, a keen ecologist, may have had some sway in BJs decision making regarding green issues. Obviously an unproven theory but a theory nonetheless.