How Starmer and Sunak could unite against Johnson to clean up politics

Both the prime minister and the leader of the opposition share a personal dislike of Boris Johnson, writes John Rentoul

Sunak and Starmer should take advantage of their common distaste for Johnson’s casual approach to morality (Getty)

Keir Starmer doesn’t call him “Boris” either. “Johnson and I really loathed each other,” the Labour leader told Matt Forde on his podcast this week. “It was obvious. We really never spoke behind the scenes very much.”

It is The Independent’s style to refer to the former prime minister as Johnson or Mr Johnson because first-name terms seem chummy. But what is interesting about Starmer’s personal dislike of Johnson is that it is something that he and Rishi Sunak have in common.

“He didn’t stand for anything, he had no principles, he had no integrity, he lied through his teeth and he brings everybody down with him,” Starmer said. “Is there anybody who’s had any relationship with Johnson – in any sense of the word – who hasn’t ended up in the gutter?”