Standing at the lectern at the front of Downing Street on Monday, Boris Johnson was barely audible over the chants of ‘stop the coup’ from nearby protestors as he attempted to sound convincing on his plans for education, health and the economy – or “the people’s agenda” as he described it. As I waited for a genuine and honest statement about his thoughts on a general election and plans to propose one, instead all I heard was fluff and bluster. For all of his talk of not wanting an election, the strategy for this statement was clear and it had all of the hallmarks of electioneering: mentions of spending on areas he knows matter to the electorate, singling out Jeremy Corbyn (he got two specific mentions in the speech) as his direct opponent, and framing any forthcoming election (which, remember Johnson doesn’t want and “you don’t want) as something that has been forced on him by rebel MP’s.

“I said I wanted to make your streets safer – and that is why we are recruiting another 20,000 police officers,” he said.

“I said I wanted to improve your hospital and reduce the waiting times at your GP. And so we are doing 20 new hospital upgrades in addition to the extra £34bn going into the NHS.”

“And I said I wanted every child in this country to have a superb education and that’s why I announced last week that we are levelling up funding across the country and spending much more next year in both primary and secondary schools,” he added.

Indeed, each pledge is admirable and necessary.

For the past three years, the government has been caught up with Brexit to such an extent that its priorities in all other parts of society have been neglected.

As difficult as it is for me personally to contemplate, I am fully aware that there are many people who believe that Johnson has the best interests of the country at heart. That he is the man to “get Brexit done” so that the country can move forward and deal with other important issues. But they’d be foolish and naïve to believe him.

For one, none of the commitments Johnson outlined on health, education or crime will be possible when the economy has tanked because of those reckless enough in the Conservative party to push for a no-deal Brexit - Johnson included - come what may.

Make no mistake, Johnson’s sole objective is to win an election and he gearing up for one that will be fought on the basis of the people versus parliament, where he is a champion of the people and parliament represents those wishing to thwart the democratic process. Indeed, his strategy for this has been in the making for some time. There were suggestions of it at his first ever ‘People PMQ’s’ back in August, a Q&A session, which was live streamed on Facebook. During it he accused MPs who are opposed to a no-deal Brexit of “collaboration” with the EU and blamed their opposition to it for the fact that Brussels wouldn’t reopen negotiations on the withdrawal agreement. Then, signing off from the session, he referred to the Athenian statesman Pericles as his political hero: a democrat who governed “for the many, not the few”.

In framing himself as a ‘man of the people’ his narrative and strategy since becoming Prime Minister has been to blame MP’s for delays to the government’s Brexit plan. Like Theresa May did in the run up to the 2017 election, Johnson is using everything he’s got to convince people that he is the victim; the victim of an intransigent Europe, unwilling to compromise for the sake of a deal, and the victim of a Parliament determined to stop his plan to uphold the will of the people who voted to leave the EU. Let’s hope enough people can see him for what he really is before the votes are cast: a man whose agenda is a Brexit for the elite, not the people he pretends to champion.