Shamed former Prime Minister Boris Johnson is finally set to spill the beans about his scandal-plagued spell in No10 in an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.
The corporation has announced Mr Johnson will give his first major interview about his time in office. He is expected to face awkward questions about Partygate, his response to Covid and his handling of the Chris Pincher scandal.
Mr Johnson, who quit Parliament just before a bombshell standards committee report ruled he’d misled the Commons over parties in No10, will be grilled by the former BBC political editor. The interview will be broadcast on October 3.
The former PM has maintained he was unfairly ousted from office, and is set to share his gripes in upcoming memoir Unleashed, due for release next month. Nearly a year ago it was announced he would be joining GB News as a presenter, but his show has yet to start.
Ms Kuenssberg has recently done a Panorama special – Partygate: Inside the Storm – and a three-part series about the Conservative government, State of Chaos. She interviewed key figures who served under Mr Johnson, who lifted the lid on his chaotic leadership.
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It comes as a memoir by another prominent Tory, former 1922 Committee chief Sir Graham Brady, claims Mr Johnson branded Tory backbenchers “spineless chicken s***” for criticising former aide Dominic Cummings. The working relationship between Mr Johnson and Mr Cummings collapsed during the pandemic, with the latter likening his boss to a shopping trolley that swerved all over the place.
As Mr Cummings faced a backlash for driving to Barnard Castle in Durham while lockdown restrictions were in place, Sir Graham said the then-PM launched a furious tirade. He is claimed to have said: “I think backbench MPs have been contemptible! They have been spineless chicken s***. They need to develop some backbone.”
The book also claimed Mr Johnson whined about the “stupid f***ing two-metre rule” and “f***ing scientists”.
Laura Kuenssberg’s interview will be broadcast on BBC One and iPlayer on Tuesday 3 rd October at 19:30 BST.