HarperCollins to publish Boris Johnson’s memoir

Boris Johnson is set to write a book detailing his time as prime minister, after HarperCollins said it had acquired his memoir. 

The Autobiography will cover the stormy period from Brexit to pandemic likely to yield 7-figure fee, say industry insiders.

The publisher on Monday said that it had acquired Johnson’s autobiography but that the book did not yet have a title or a target publication date. 

HarperCollins said it had acquired the rights to his memoir of his time in No10 from 2019 to 2022.

Johnson, who served as prime minister from 2019 until September last year, is a best-selling author with almost a dozen books to his name, although he failed to deliver a promised biography of William Shakespeare after taking an advance in 2015.

Both HarperCollins and Johnson refused to comment on the fee for Johnson’s memoir, but industry experts suggested the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip was likely to receive a seven-figure sum given his international fame.

One publishing insider said the amount would depend on HarperCollins’ assessment of how the book would perform in the US, its most lucrative market. While Johnson may fall short of the £4.6mn advance secured by former UK premier Sir Tony Blair in 2010 for his autobiography, the person said he could command a significant figure on the basis that “pure soap opera” would “sell well”.

The book is likely to attract widespread attention given Johnson’s central role in British politics over the past decade or so.

Arabella Pike, publishing director at HarperCollins’ William Collins, called it a prime ministerial memoir “like no other”.

She said: “I look forward to working with Boris Johnson as he writes his account of his time in office during some of the most momentous events the United Kingdom has seen in recent times.”

The new memoir will be the latest book penned by former journalist Mr Johnson, who has authored several books throughout his career .

In 2014, he published ‘The Churchill Factor’, a biography of his hero and wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill.