Hugh Bonneville calls Boris Johnson ‘a man of no principle whatsoever’

Actor also said the NHS is ‘not fit for purpose’ after 13 years of the Tories

Hugh Bonneville has torn into former prime minister Boris Johnson, calling him “a man of no principle whatsoever”.

Speaking in a new interview with The Independent, Bonneville, 59, said: “Our lack of leadership is quite stunning. The vacuity of the last two or three secretaries of state for culture is embarrassing. The same goes for our recent foreign secretaries, among whom I count Boris Johnson, a man of no principle whatsoever.”

The actor, who can next be seen in the BBC’s new primetime Sunday night drama The Gold, also lamented the state of the NHS under the Conservative government.

Bonneville, whose father was a doctor and mother was a nurse, said: “I’m hugely worried about the future of the NHS… In the 1970s, dealing with patients directly was the centre of [my parents’] world, and not filling in forms.

“Now the NHS is a vast institution that is not fit for purpose. It is no coincidence that the only government we’ve had for the last 13 years has been Tory.

“And now the nurses are going on strike, for goodness’ sake. No nurse that I know wants to strike, but they are literally subsidising the job that they do. It’s heartbreaking. It really is a gloomy time.”

He also criticised the government’s plans to scrap the BBC licence fee. “It’s scandalous that the BBC is under threat,” he said. “What would we end up with? Just Fox News all over the place and opinion-shouting on GB News.”

Emun Elliott, Hugh Bonneville and Charlotte Spencer in ‘The Gold’ (BBC/Tannadice Pictures/Sally Mais)

Read the full interview here, in which Bonneville also reflected on his role in the Richard Curtis classic Notting Hill, and his new heist drama The Gold.

The BBC crime series is inspired by the true story of the 1983 Brink’s-Mat gold robbery, telling the story from the point of view of both the police and the criminals. It co-stars Dominic Cooper and Charlotte Spencer.