Boris Johnson Wants to Be Superman and Working Class Hero

Immediately after his December election victory, Boris Johnson declared his principle domestic policy objective to be the rebalancing of Britain’s economy, “leveling up” those parts of the U.K. that have been left behind financially. On Monday, speaking in the Baroque splendor of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, the prime minister set out his prime foreign policy goal: making Britain a global “Superman” in championing free trade.

These are both reasonable ambitions — noble, even. Johnson’s government was voted into power to deliver them, backed by a strange mixture of working class former Labour voters and older Conservative Brexiters who want a swashbuckling U.K. unencumbered by ties to the European Union. The problem, as Johnson dives into trade negotiations with Brussels, is that keeping that latter constituency happy may involve hurting the former.