Telegraph rounds up ‘best of Boris’ columns in new online archive

The Telegraph has published an archive of Boris Johnson’s columns for the paper since 2004 so readers can easily see “what makes him tick” after he was named Britain’s new Prime Minister.

Johnson has written for the Telegraph for almost 30 years, first as EU correspondent and then assistant editor before becoming a regular columnist for the past two decades.

He only stopped his regular column during his stint as Foreign Secretary between 2016 and 2018, although the archive also shows a gap in 2007 and some other periods of irregularity.

The Telegraph has not publicly confirmed whether Johnson’s election as Tory leader and Prime Minister meant an immediate end to his work for the newspaper, but Press Gazette understands staff were told early last week that his most recent column was his last.

The “Boris Johnson archive” is teased on the Telegraph website homepage with a graphic that uses a lighthearted example of Johnson’s policy ideas from 2010. “A simple way to keep law and order – make everyone kiss and cuddle,” he wrote.

Introducing the archive, the title said: “Boris Johnson has taken on many topics in his regular Telegraph column which readers have loved over the years.

“Now he has taken up residence in Number 10 as Prime Minister, we have pulled his output together into an easy-to-navigate format so that you can understand what makes him tick.”

The Telegraph’s Boris Johnson archive graphic

Categories in the archive include the “best of Boris” and “Boris on…” topics such as Brexit and the EU, business and the economy, foreign affairs, culture, and environment.

“The rest of Boris” collects some of his more miscellaneous topics including his 2004 apology to the people of Liverpool after the Spectator, which he edited at the time, accused the city of wallowing in “victim status” over the Hillsborough disaster.

After Johnson entered Number 10 last week, Telegraph chief executive Nick Hugh sent a message to all staff congratulating his former journalist on his appointment.

The message was accompanied by a graphic saying “congratulations to Boris from the Telegraph”, which was also displayed in the newsroom’s lobby last week.

Picture: Kirsty Wigglesworth/Pool via Reuters