Boris Johnson announces release date for ‘unrestrained’ memoir

Boris Johnson has announced the release date for his “unrestrained” memoir in which he will give his account of his time in Downing Street.

The former prime minister’s book, called Unleashed, will be published by William Collins on Oct 10 this year, with Harper releasing it in the United States five days later.

Unleashed will cover Mr Johnson’s political career from his eight years as mayor of London, to the ‘Brexit wars’ in parliament and his premiership.

His three years in power saw him win the 2019 general election with a majority of 80, lead Britain through the pandemic and end up ousted by Tory MPs in summer 2022 following a series of scandals including partygate and the Chris Pincher affair.

It will also convey his thoughts on the role he played in Britain’s departure from the European Union and the “sea change” that followed in the nation’s politics, as well as his experiences of the London Olympics and the 2011 riots, both of which took place during his mayoralty.

Mr Johnson’s publisher said Unleashed was an “honest, unrestrained and deeply revealing book by the politician who has dominated our times”.

Arabella Pike, publishing director at William Collins, said: “Unlike most top politicians, Boris Johnson is also a writer.

“His book, Unleashed, is compulsively readable, stuffed to the brim with serious reflections on his time in office but written with his charismatic trademark wit, his vivid use of language and stories galore. We are delighted to be publishing this autumn.”

Mr Johnson added: “I am honoured that HarperCollins is publishing my personal account of the huge realignment that took place in UK politics in the last 15 years – and what may lie ahead.

“So stand by for my thoughts on Britain’s future to explode over the publishing world like a much-shaken bottle of champagne.”

Premiership memoirs

His successor Liz Truss, who was forced out of power after governing for just 49 days, published her own memoir Ten Years to Save the West this year. In the book, Ms Truss claimed to have been “the only conservative in the room” for much of her decade in government.

Tony Blair, the Labour prime minister between 1997 and 2010, and Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary who was in No 10 from 2010 to 2016, have also published high-profile autobiographies reflecting on their time in power.

Since he was ousted from Downing Street, Mr Johnson has made millions from public speaking commitments while also writing a weekly column for The Daily Mail.

He stood down as an MP in June 2023, claiming a Commons inquiry by the privileges committee had been determined to find him guilty over partygate.

The committee was said to have been likely to recommend a suspension of 10 days, meaning a recall petition, which in turn would have triggered a by-election.

Drafted in for election

Mr Johnson has been vocal in criticising his successor-but-one Rishi Sunak over his revised Brexit deal, his partial cancellation of HS2 and his decision to delay and dilute a number of net zero targets.

The former prime minister is out of the country for much of the general election campaign but has been drafted in by the Conservatives in an attempt to reverse their plight in recent weeks.

The Telegraph revealed earlier this week that tens of thousands of letters signed by Mr Johnson, who has been pictured on holiday in Italy, are due to be delivered to voters.

Among those targeted voters are wavering Tories who backed the party when Mr Johnson was leader but are now contemplating whether to back Reform UK, the insurgent Right-wing party led by Nigel Farage.

Last week, Mr Johnson used his Mail column to warn that Britain faces a Labour “freak majority” bigger than that of Sir Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher combined unless Tories turn out to vote at the election.