‘He’s really funny’: Inside the weird world of Boris Johnson’s book launch

Appearing onstage with his signature rumpled hair and an ill-fitted suit, former prime minister Boris Johnson was met with cheers of applause by a thousand-strong crowd who had gathered to mark the release of his 750-page memoir Unleashed. open image in gallery Johnson doubled down on his belief that he should not have issued a ‘grovelling’ apology over the lockdown gatherings Detailing his period in power, his memoir details how he felt the EU treated the UK with “malice and spite” over vaccines, sees him defend the £350m claim splashed on a Brexit campaign bus and makes the bizarre claim that he had been the man to try and persuade Prince Harry to remain in the Royal Family. Seizing her moment when Times columnist Juliet Samuel pressed him on this topic, one woman stood up from the back of the crowd and shouted down: “I think everyone should know you’re an amazing person – you shouldn’t let them put you down.” Similar moments of support appeared during his continued insistence that he had committed no wrongdoing in attending lockdown gatherings, with cheers erupting when he stated his belief that Sue Gray’s report had been a “put up job”. open image in gallery The former prime minister was met with cheers and applause from the crowd In her summary, the senior civil servant who went on to become Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff found that Johnson had attended eight events and that there had been “failures of leadership and judgement in No 10 and the Cabinet Office”. “Because I am now in the happy position of being able to say exactly what I think … in my own personal behaviour I don’t think I did anything wrong.” Echoing his comments to the BBC earlier this week, he skirted around the topic of returning to mainstream politics, joking there was a greater chance of being "blinded by a champagne cork" – a phrase similar to one he used when asked about his political ambitions before getting to Downing Street.