Boris Johnson’s last speech as prime minister had him argue: “I am like one of those booster rockets that has fulfilled its function…. splashing down invisibly in some remote and obscure corner of the Pacific.”
Johnson may see himself as an Apollo spaceship, but he’s more like the boastful, patrician and ultimately useless firework from Oscar Wilde’s fairytale “The Remarkable Rocket”, a parable about patrician pomposity, arrogance and misplaced self-confidence which substitutes for talent.
Wilde’s worthless rocket is a near-perfect fit for Johnson, especially when it declares: “I like hearing myself talk. It is one of my greatest pleasures. I often have long conversations all by myself and I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I’m saying.”