Boris Johnson’s time as prime minister has been defined by a series of contradictions.
On the one hand, his approach to the economy has been markedly more interventionist than any of his recent predecessors. A new generation of state-owned bodies has been established, including the UK Infrastructure Bank, the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) and ‘Great British Nuclear’. Numerous businesses have been nationalised in whole or in part, including the steelmaker Sheffield Forgemasters, the National Grid and large parts of the rail sector.
This has led some commentators to herald ‘the death of neoliberalism’ and former shadow chancellor John McDonnell to remark: “Johnson has carried out more nationalisations than any Labour prime minister since Harold Wilson.”
