Sir Anthony Seldon, who has written books on the premierships of Blair, Brown, Cameron and May and studied the impossible task facing prime ministers, said Johnson’s approach contrasted sharply with that of his predecessors who had the luxury to plan their final weeks. He said Tony Blair and Theresa May – two recent prime ministers who knew their time in office was up – had both tried hard to ensure their final weeks were not wasted. David Cameron also planned some final measures, only for his premiership to end prematurely after Andrea Lindsom dropped out of the Tory leadership race and May was crowned prime minister. Instead, Sheldon said, Johnson’s last few weeks have been “incomplete” since he announced his resignation. “What happens is that prime ministers are either caught by surprise by a general election, like John Major or Gordon Brown, or by a leadership election that collapses, as happened with Cameron,” Sheldon said. “He wanted to do a lot of things in his last six weeks. “But when they have the time, like Theresa May, they use it to actually do all the things they would have done early on if they had a better sense of the pace of the architecture of a premier. Blair also planned his exit very carefully and kept going until the end. He choreographed his exit and how to maximize these final weeks. “While all this is incomplete. It is curious because the story of Johnson’s premiership is a work in progress. The things he was interested in – going up, getting the Brexit dividend, building a strong economy, building a strong position for Britain in the world, being the most determined Prime Minister on the environment – ​​those things are not complete. “A lot of others had a whole series of speeches that they made to end things the way they wanted to end them. Maybe that’s going to come, but the timing is tight for him because the country will be on holiday until early September and then the focus won’t be on him.” Unlike Boris Johnson, his predecessor Theresa May remained active as prime minister in her final weeks. Photo: House of Commons/PA Johnson was accused of being “missing in action” last week after it was revealed he went on holiday to an undisclosed location just weeks before his prime ministership ended. Last month, he hosted a drinks gathering at his retreat in Checkers during the heatwave while Cabinet minister Kit Malthouse oversaw Cobra’s extreme weather meetings. He held his wedding party next weekend at the Cotswolds estate of Tory donor Lord Bamford. It is said to have included a steel band, rum, Abba songs and a conga. He had previously been photographed flying a Typhoon and training with Ukrainian troops. Johnson went on vacation Wednesday. Sheldon said that, unlike his predecessors who found themselves in a similar situation, Johnson made No 10 a “hive of inactivity”. “That would be reasonable behavior for someone who had done the job he wanted to do,” he said. “He has not done these things. It would be reasonable behavior for someone extremely diligent who had gone in with all guns blazing. He didn’t do that. “He ends up being true to himself. Everything about him is contrary to expectations.” A No 10 spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has always been clear that this Government must be judged on its actions for the British people – from taking back control and leaving the EU, protecting lives and livelihoods against the duration of the pandemic and the development of our world- leading vaccination program, to lead the global response to the conflict in Ukraine. “While he has stated his intention to step down when he is the new leader, the Prime Minister remains focused on delivering on his commitments to the public. Equally important is ensuring families have access to £37 billion worth of support for households facing rising costs as a result of Putin’s illegal war.”