# Greased piglet

* This article is part of a series aboutBoris Johnson
Political positions
Electoral history
Public image
MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip
MP for Henley
Electoral history
{{{2}}}
2008 mayoral election
2012 mayoral election
2016 EU referendum
causes
aftermath
2019 leadership election
polling
endorsements
reactions
2019 general election
2021 local elections
2022 local elections
Mayor of London
Mayoralty
2008 mayoral election
London Britannia Airport
Santander Cycles
New Routemaster
2011 riots
London Cable Car
2012 Summer Olympics
2012 Summer Paralympics
Garden Bridge
Brexit
Vote Leave
2016 explored candidacy
Foreign Secretary
Tenure as Foreign Secretary
Yemen intervention
Zaghari-Ratcliffe case
2018 Salisbury attack
Chequers plan
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Premiership
International trips
Minister for the Union
First ministry and term (July – December 2019)
First ministry (minority)
Suspension of rebel MPs
Benn Act
2019 prorogation
Supreme Court case
Brexit deal renegotiation
revised deal
Get Brexit Done
Second ministry and term (December 2019 – September 2022)
Second ministry (majority)
departures
2020 reshuffle
2021 reshuffle
EU Withdrawal Agreement
Northern Ireland Protocol
EU trade negotiation
cooperation agreement
COVID-19 pandemic
government response
lockdown
vaccinations
contracts
contract controversies
Dominic Cummings scandal
Partygate
Evacuations from Afghanistan
Levelling up
COP26
Refurb controversy
Owen Paterson scandal
Rwanda asylum plan
Murder of David Amess
Proposed NI increase
British support for Ukraine in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Cost of living crisis
Conservative Party confidence vote
Chris Pincher scandal
Government crisis
July 2022 reshuffle
leadership election
House of Commons confidence vote
Resignation Honours
Post-premiership
2022 explored candidacy
endorsements
Privileges Committee investigation
2023 Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election
Bibliography
Friends, Voters, Countrymen
Seventy-Two Virgins
The Dream of Rome
The Churchill Factor
Unleashed :
vte :
"Greased piglet" is an epithet used by former British Prime Minister David Cameron to describe later British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The term has been applied to Johnson by the British media, international media, as well as political adversaries, and some political scientists.

## Origin

The term originates from October 2019 when former British Prime Minister David Cameron, in discussing the difficult Brexit talks, said of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, "The thing about the greased piglet is that he manages to slip through other people's hands where mere mortals fail".
At the time, Cameron was speaking at the annual October Harrogate Literature Festival in North Yorkshire to promote his book For the Record, when he was asked about his relationship with Johnson and if they had nicknames for each other. Cameron made the comment by way of responding to the question, disclosing what he had texted to a friend who had asked him about Johnson's chances of getting his upcoming Brexit legislation voted through parliament.
The political editor of The Independent John Rentoul, noted that Johnson had himself previously called the former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron a "greased piglet", on separate occasions.

## Meaning

In 2019, The Economist said the term was one of four faces that Johnson portrayed, being the "player, gambler, Machiavelli or piglet", and that the greased piglet "either wriggles through loopholes or else shifts the blame expertly to anyone but himself". In 2022, The New Zealand Herald said the use of the term in relation to Johnson was "due to his legendary ability to evade scandal", while The New York Times attributed the term to him being "a man who could slip out of any tight situation".
In March 2021, British political journalist Andrew Rawnsley wrote of Johnson, "'Getting away with it' has been one of the more consistent features of the career of a man whom other Tories call 'the greased piglet', and quoted a former cabinet minister who told him "Boris has got this Teflon quality. He gets away with things that no other politician would get away with".
In May 2022, Pankaj Mishra, writing in The Washington Post, wrote that the "greased piglet" term had become associated with the myth of Johnson as "a great survivor". The Washington Post wrote "Yet Johnson perseveres, even attracting a myth that he is a great survivor, a “greased piglet,” in former Prime Minister David Cameron’s description, able to slip out of every cage he lands in. On closer examination, Johnson’s survival skills amount to little more than shamelessness. He owes his resilience in disgrace to Britain’s debased political culture and institutions such as the British parliament, the media, the London police, and the Conservative party."