Everything Boris Johnson has done since he resigned as prime minister

A year ago today, Boris Johnson resigned as prime minister.

After some three years in the role, he ran out of road what with his colleagues resigning en masse and ruining his legitimacy.

So it seemed like the end of Johnson's public career, but it also didn't. Because during his last session of PMQs, Johnson issued an ominous parting shot. "Hasta la vista, baby," he said - which translates to until we meet again (baby).

Or to put it another way, he hinted that we would not see the last of him and that he would continue to needle his way into the public eye.

A year later, we can confirm that needling has happened.

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Indeed, the former PM has done everything to continue grabbing headlines from running again for Tory leadership to getting slapped on the wrist (again and again) for his Partygate conduct.

And so, here's everything Johnson has been up to since leaving office:

Loads of speeches

Since leaving office, Johnson has gone around speaking to just about anyone who will listen. Indeed, a mere six months after leaving Downing Street, the former PM received £2.5 million in advance for future speeches, addressing investors in the technology behind cryptocurrency, insurers and investment bankers, and other lucky people.

Alright for some...

Boris Johnson is defending himself over Partygate again Carl Court/Getty Images

Going full Trump on MP committees

Johnson got criticised for his Partygate behaviour recently, specifically for misleading parliament when he claimed no rules were broken. Rather than take it on the chin, he went full Trump and called the group of MPs investigating him a "kangaroo court".

Then he had a hissy fit and resigned as an MP. Classy.

Making a controversial honours list

Prime ministers who leave office may grant honours such as peerages to people. Johnson chose some controversial people indeed, chucking gongs at political allies, people involved in Partygate and some pretty young advisers.

Building a garage

When he's not talking nonsense he is presumably cleaning it up given he is the father to a toddler and other children.

In February 2023, he discussed his newfound time with family in a TalkTV interview with one of his pals, Nadine Dorries.

He revealed he had been "building a garage" with his young'uns.

When pressed on what he meant he said: "I'm building garage for the quad bike, not a big quad bike, it was a miniature quad bike."

He's not just any old Dad, he's a cool Dad.

Writing a memoir

Unsurprisingly, when Johnson resigned, it was soon announced he would be writing a memoir about his time in office.

The book, which so far has no title or publication date, will be a “prime ministerial memoir like no other”, according to Arabella Pike, publishing director at William Collins, an imprint of HarperCollins UK.

It has been reported his advance for the memoir was £500,000. Not as much as he gets from delivering speeches, but still...

Reciting poetry in dark parks

When he is not writing, Johnson is reading. Poetry. To strangers in parks. Last December in a piece for the Spectator, he wrote: “One of the joys of a recent career change is taking a slightly longer run in the mornings. I get up in the dark and hammer my way round the park with the Protforce detectives strolling behind (and breaking into a theatrical jog when I turn round).”

Johnson added: One way to take your mind off the rigours of athletic exertion is to recite poetry. I now have a pretty stonking repertoire. In 35 mins I can do the first 100 lines of the Iliad, the first 100 lines of the Aeneid, the first canto of the Divine Comedy and the whole of Lycidas.

“I am pretty much word-perfect, though I might hesitate over the names of all those flowers towards the end of Lycidas and I am not sure a real Italian speaker would enjoy my version of Dante.”

He doesn’t just keep it to himself, either.

“The openings of the first two, the Iliad and its majestic Roman successor, are really what you call suppliant dramas. One character turns to another and implores them to do something. I like to act them out in different voices – much to the puzzlement of people overtaking me.”

Weird.

Ran for Tory leadership (again)

In the chaos of Johnson's timeline, anything is possible.

So we were not completely surprised when he ran for Tory leadership, again, briefly after Liz Truss resigned.

He pulled out quickly, and in a statement said:

"There is a very good chance that I would be successful in the election with Conservative Party members - and that I could indeed be back in Downing Street on Friday.

"But in the course of the last days, I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do. You can't govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament."

You win some, you lose some.

Writing for the Daily Mail

Who saw this one coming? Well, just about everyone.

Recently, Johnson started writing a weekly column for the publication, covering topics such as his experience with a weight-loss drug, and his views on the recent submarine disaster.

“I may even have to cover politics — but I’ll obviously try to do that as little as possible, unless I absolutely have to,” he said, when it launched.

A government watchdog found that by taking the column, Johnson broke rules that state ministers who leave government must consult it on any jobs they take within two years of leaving government.

He just won't go...

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