Johnson’s Post-Brexit Spending Spree to End Era of Austerity

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson led his Conservative Party to its biggest victory in a national election since the days of Margaret Thatcher by persuading voters in former industrial heartlands to vote Tory for the first time. Johnson promised to “get Brexit done” after years of political gridlock and duly delivered on Jan. 31, when Britain formally left the European Union. But if he is to retain support in some of the poorest parts of the country, he must now address the grievances of those who feel economically marginalized.

As the face of the 2016 campaign to leave the EU, Johnson skillfully harnessed anger over almost a decade of cuts to public services and the erosion of living standards to build support for Brexit. Now he’s promised to “level up” struggling regions, leaving no doubt that Britain is about to open the spending taps. The only question is how much. The answer will be contained in the boxy red briefcase that the finance minister, Rishi Sunak, will carry into Parliament on March 11, when he presents the administration’s first budget. (The so-called red box ritual dates to the 1860s.)