On 27March, it was announced that Johnson had tested positive for COVID-19. [493] On 5April, with his symptoms persisting, he was admitted to a hospital for tests. [494] The next day, his condition having worsened, he was moved to the hospital's intensive care unit; [495] [496] Dominic Raab was appointed to deputise for him. [496] Johnson left intensive care on 9April, [497] and left hospital three days later to recuperate at Chequers. [498] After a fortnight at Chequers, he returned to Downing Street on 26April and was said to be chairing a government COVID-19 " war cabinet" meeting. [499] Johnson later said that he had been given emergency oxygen while in intensive care, and that doctors had made preparations in case of the event of his death. [500] It was at this time that Mr Cummings and his close ally Lee Cain, Mr Johnson's director of communications, left their roles - the result of what was described as a power struggle in Number 10 in which a group of advisers loyal to the prime minister's wife came out on top. Promising his "most fervent support" to his successor Liz Truss, Mr Johnson compared himself to Cincinnatus, who was made dictator in 458 BC to lead the battle against an invasion before returning to his farm.

The speed with which the situation became untenable was dizzying - most obviously for Mr Johnson himself - as he appeared to be almost in denial as his premiership fell apart around him.

Johnson said that US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital is a "moment of opportunity" for peace. [391] In June 2018, Johnson accused the UNHRC of focusing disproportionately on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories. [392] Johnson with former prime minister Gordon Brown in May 2018

Johnson attended Eton College and studied Classics at Balliol College, Oxford. He was elected president of the Oxford Union in 1986. In 1989, he became the Brussels correspondent – and later political columnist – for The Daily Telegraph, and from 1999 to 2005 he was the editor of The Spectator. Following his election to Parliament in 2001, he became a member of the shadow cabinets of Michael Howard and later David Cameron. Johnson was elected Mayor of London in 2008 and resigned from the House of Commons. He was re-elected mayor in 2012. In the 2015 general election he was elected MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, and the following year did not seek re-election as mayor. Johnson was a prominent figure in the successful Vote Leave campaign for Brexit in the 2016 European Union membership referendum. After the referendum, Prime Minister Theresa May appointed him foreign secretary in her cabinet. He resigned from the position in 2018 in protest at both the Chequers Agreement and May's approach to Brexit. At 25 he became The Daily Telegraph's Brussels correspondent, making his name as a writer with articles questioning and ridiculing laws and directives from the European Commission.Nonetheless, the volunteer, who does not wish to be named, has little patience for the man who arrives in a tight white shirt on his way to work. “It’s not just that you’re going to have to take it off. Also, you might bleed. You idiot.”

But when asked whether he would vote Conservative in the byelection he was hesitant: “Ooh, I’m not too sure yet.” Johnson has been the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip since 2015. Photograph: Andy Hall/The Observer It transpired that shortly after he had been pictured rushing out of Downing Street at the end of March, at exactly the time Mr Johnson had tested positive, Mr Cummings had travelled to County Durham - apparently breaching the "stay at home" guidance to self-isolate with COVID outside London. During trips to the United States as foreign secretary, Johnson had repeated meetings with Trump adviser and speechwriter Stephen Miller, which were held off White House grounds and kept quiet from May. During the meetings, Miller and Johnson "swapped speech-writing ideas and tips". [394]Everything - including his clothes, car and flat - were a mess. But this persona disarmed his rivals, leaving them with their guards down. Image: Dominic Cummings told reporters he went to Barnard Castle to test his eyesight in the garden of 10 Downing Street

Johnson appointed his Cabinet on 24July 2019, [452] dismissing 11 senior ministers and accepting the resignation of six others. [453] [454] The mass dismissal was the most extensive postwar Cabinet reorganisation without a change in the ruling party. [455] [456]It doesn’t really come as a surprise to be honest. His resignation is something that doesn’t feel like it changed anything in terms of the economic state of the country.”