(This article was originally published on 12 December 2021. It is being reposted after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was asked to resign by multiple members of the opposition in the House of Commons on 12 January 2022. The demands for his resignation came minutes after he admitted and apologised for attending a garden party at his Downing Street office in May 2020, which violated lockdown rules imposed on the British public by his own government.)
In the second week of December 2021, Boris Johnson became a father again. His seventh child – a baby girl – within hours of her birth, featured in a cartoon in The Times newspaper, which showed the prime minister welcoming his new-born child as 'the sweetest little diversionary tactic of them all!'
Britain's prime minister certainly needs to divert attention from his escalating problems. He faces by far the biggest set of crises of his time in power – a range of rows, scandals, and conflicts which have raised acute questions about the PM's integrity, competence and political instincts. All the cardinal qualities you need in a leader seem to have deserted him.