News Politics Talk from Former Downing Street Director of Communications 09.05.2023

Guto Harri, former Downing Street Director of Communications, was warmly welcomed to the Politics Society today to share his thoughts and insights on ‘The Rise and Fall of Boris Johnson’. This was particularly timely as Guto had made the front page of several newspapers this morning following the publication of some excerpts from his upcoming podcast ‘Unprecedented’ and so came to Godolphin and Latymer straight from a full round of media interviews.

Guto gave a spirited defence of Boris Johnson’s time in office and in politics more generally, and particularly the way in which he feels that Boris was unjustly bought down over ‘partygate’ in the summer of 2022.  It was fascinating to hear how Johnson’s politics changed over time from when Guto first worked with him as Mayor of London to his crucial role in Brexit. A lively discussion followed the talk with students and staff probing Harri’s claims about ‘partygate’ and the role of scrutiny in politics. Many felt that they gained new insights into Johnson at No 10 from the talk and we are looking forward to listening to the podcast series which is released on Thursday.