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  • Guy Battle
  • 2 minutes
  • 08/07/2022
14303

Bye bye Boris: Guy Battle on Johnson’s time as PM

Our CEO, Guy Battle, gives a fair, honest and potentially unpopular overview of Boris Johnson's time as Prime Minister, and the legacy he leaves behind him.

What a 24hrs it has been; they talk about a day being a long time in politics, but wow that was a lifetime!

I am glad to see him go. Leadership relies on trust and Johnson, for all of his virtues (I’ll come to those; you may be surprised), had lost our trust.

But, whilst we must throw out the dirty bath water, let’s please keep the baby.

What do I mean by this? Well, whilst Johnson was clearly not a man for details – or honesty for that matter, he did at least have one virtue, and that was cutting through the noise and thinking big. 

As you can tell, I am no fan of the man, but I did like his big thinking around levelling up, his government’s promotion of the procurement bill and of course the strengthening of the Social Value Act (PPN06/20).

These were – and remain – really important initiatives and deserve recognition. What concerns me now is the danger that a new government might choose to reset the books and start again. 

We must not, and cannot, let this happen. Whilst the politicians shout and scream in their playground, the business world and those of us that believe in the principles that sit behind these ideas, need to hold steady and make sure that they remain in play and on course for delivery.    

I cannot stress this enough. It is vital that we remain above the political fray and focus on the core value of what these initiatives are all about – reducing inequality, stretching the impact of the public pound and building stronger and more resilient communities.

And so, when the new folks eventually land, let’s make sure they know that we are four-square behind the ideas.

Guy Battle headshot

Guy Battle

CEO

Guy Battle is the Chief Executive of Social Value Portal – an online solution that allows organisations to measure and manage the contribution that their organisation and supply chain makes to society.