Most of my left-wing friends want Boris to stay as PM up to and including the election, on the theory that he’s so terrible and polls so badly, and anyone else who replaces him will be basically “better than Boris,” same as we look back on Theresa May. And TBF to her, I do think she would have been better at handling the pandemic than Boris was and wouldn’t have broken any major rules herself. There isn’t really anyone in the current Tory party that isn’t Boris-lite.
OTOH, I don’t really trust polls, especially when it comes to support for Tories or divisive figures like Boris. Boris’s personal support among right-wingers I know - even soft right-wingers, ones who aren’t overtly racist etc - is still high. “Poor man, he’s dealing with this and a new baby.” They’re not people I know well, just people on places like Nextdoor and local supposedly non-political Facebook groups, where I tend not to engage in politics because it never goes well, just observe the politics and take part in the non-political stuff.
It’s totally anecdotal, of course, so I don’t expect anyone else to take what I say as verifiable, but - regrettably - what I see around me tends to predict election results more than polls do.
The chances of the Tories losing are also partly based on Labour winning. Labour are currently amazingly shit and could lose an election to a potato wearing a blue rosette.
Indeed, the political parties all seem to be in a very poor state. Their incessant internal wrangles mean they are dominated by schemers and political hacks. When it comes to election time, they want leaders who are TV personalities and tell the voters what they want to hear.
The result is plain to see. Showmen whose only skill is campaigning and getting elected. The more challenging business of running the country seems to be beyond their abilities. Johnson can’t even run Downing St without making stupid errors of judgement and then telling lies about it. He was the wrong man for the job.
The Conservative party is being damaged more and more, the longer this goes on. Johnson has not just made a simple mistake, it is a pattern of behaviour and poor management.
They can be quite ruthless when it is time for a change of leadership. That time is pretty near,
I’m hoping Labour sort themselves out and come up with some fresh policy ideas by the next election. They have been under performing for far too long.
One thing that won’t change is the mountain of debt the UK that has piled up. We are in for some difficult years, made far worse by the incompetent way in which Covid has been handled.
Johnson is in the habit of quoting Latin as if he has some towering intellect because he studied Classics at Oxford university. Rather than towering, dwarf would be a better assessment. He offsets his pretentious snippets of Latin with a verbal style that is full of disarming bluster and a bumbling manner. Like some eccentric academic who is a bit unkempt and sloppy, but would have us believe he possesses some quite brilliant insight. He peppers his speeches with hideously contrived similies and mangled metaphors. A gifted amateur who has no truck with stiff formality and precision. He often snipes at Kier Starmer for his precise, lawyerly questions, which he proceeds to dodge. It is all an act. Johnson is also coached on exactly what words to use that do not allow him to be tied down, he spent most of his youth in debating societies.
School reports complained about his idleness, complacency and lateness. These serous character flaws were very evident in his journalist career to which he added telling lies and dishonesty. But I am sure he was very entertaining company.
Johnson is a part of a little clique of Etonians who consider themselves destined to lead the nation and he managed to finally elbow his way past his rivals to get the top job amid the chaos of Brexit.
He likes being Prime Minister, just as Trump enjoyed the trappings of the Presidency. But the part of the job description that entails managing a political administration seems to be escaped his attention. He would rather be the life and soul of the party. That, as recent reports suggest, has been his undoing.
I suspect the next UK Prime Minister might not be another member of the Etonian elite. I think the Tories are fed up with all the screw ups of these over privileged schoolboys.
The next one might even have a South Asian heritage.
Well, he’s pushing hard for it. But whether the Conservative Party really wants him, and whether they think he’ll be popular with their base and with the general public, is another story.
That scumbag Michael Ashcroft has written a book dishing the dirt on Carrie Johnson. The Daily Mail is glorying in it, and will be publishing juicy extracts. More nails in the coffin.
I don’t know, it seems decidedly Neanderthal to look past literally a dozen moron Machiavellis morons and an entire male-dominated party machinery in order to lay the blame for the current dysfunction solely at the feet of A Woman! (gasp). Heedlessly retrograde attacks on convenient targets may help speed the current embarrassment to an early end, but they also reinforce some antiquated notions of power that will obstruct anything significantly better taking its place in the foreseeable future.
But then it is the Daily Mail, so Neanderthal is to be expected.
They have even critised his wife’s choice of wallpaper. Apparently Theresa May, furnish the flat at No 10 from the John Lewis store. Carrie has tastes are rather expensive, she has favourite interior designer to help her. Sadly Boris’s salary could not cover it and he had to get financial help from a rich Tory donor.
Problem is you see Boris has lots of children by various wives and mistresses and they all have lots of expensive school fees to pay.
This sort of domestic drama is bread and butter to the Daily Mail. I am sure the readers are lapping it up.
The political angle is there as well. Carrie champions various issues and I am sure Boris hears all about it. She also does not like some of his advisors. Some have been forced out, notably his Macievellian strategist Cummings.
Tales from the court of King Boris thus abound and entertain the nation.
But I don’t think it wins much sympathy. The newly won seats from the working class areas in the North are not likely to be impressed by the antics of this privileged elite.
The UK continues to test the parameters of how long it can go. Our serving Prime Minister slandered the leader of the opposition with a highly inflammatory slur, and got him attacked by a mob yesterday, and had to have a police escort.
I’m pretty sure Starmer could sue him for it. Johnson (*) backed down. In a way. Without any apology. And then denied he caused the attack. I’m not sure of the legal position then, I guess he could sue for more than what he said.
Our Prime Minister being found guilty of slander in a UK court would just be another low.
(*) A rant about the use of the word “Boris”.
No other leader since Thatcher had the deliberate usage of their first name as if they were your best friend. It’s a deliberate attempt to connect to him as if he’s a pal, when he is not. They called Thatcher by her first name in order to humanise this unlikeable robot of a woman. Now they use “Boris” to try and connect this buffoon to you. Nobody called Cameron “Davey” or May “Tessa”.
The irony is that it’s not really the name he uses. His few friends call him Alex. His full name is Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (**).
(**) As a regular bigot who made his fame on the back of racism, it’s also ironic to point out his heritage, as being Turkish, one of the races used to be inflame people in the Brexit campaign (the idea that Turkey is going to get into the EU, which is never going to happen this century). Johnson is descended from one of the last ministers in the Ottoman Empire: Ali Kernal.
You cannot sue a politician for anything they say in a debate in parliament. This is called Parliamentary Privilege and is designed to prevent the stifling of debate.
However Kier Starmer could complain to the speaker and raise a Breach of Privilege. That would usually be referred the Committee of Privileges and Members’ Interests, which might then decide to recommend a course of action to the house. They would take a vote which could lead to censure, a fine, or even prison.
It’s highly unlikely Starmer will do this; he’s already said something to the effect of ‘it’s up to the Prime Minister to decide how he conducts himself’, and we’ve all seen how votes to censure/discipline politicians go.
It’s another case where something has to change in our system. Where you can slander someone and get them attacked and get away with it, and any justice not served. The open lies, but censure for calling someone a liar needs to change too.
I disagree. He wasn’t typically referred to as Tony. He was called Tony Blair. Different. They used his full name. Cameron and May often didn’t have the first name added though.
There are plenty of Tonies. There aren’t many Borises in the UK. It’s not a typically name. It’s more Russian adding future ironies due to Russian money going into the Tory party too. Perhaps its a taunt. In plain sight.
The other parties have to step up and appear to be credibly capable of government. To be honest, maybe they have the wherewithal to actually do that, and they’re not getting much exposure because the news is simply brimming over with fresh tales of corruption and clowning from Cirque de Boris.
My original comment is somewhat dated now - Labour have opened up a convincing poll lead since December, consistently polling c.10 points ahead of the Tories.
But that is all down to the wheels falling off the Boris bus - Labour/Starmer have taken advantage, and I believe they are now ahead on metrics like “trusted with the economy” which is a big deal, but they’re still basically looking good in comparison rather than selling themselves as the next government (I think!)
John Armitage, co-founder of the hedge fund firm Egerton Capital, who has given £3.1m to the Conservatives, including more than £500,000 since Boris Johnson entered No 10, told the BBC he thought leaders should leave if they lose their moral authority.
He added: “I find the lack of honour inherent in modern politics incredibly distressing.”
Armitage said he had told the Conservatives he would not be giving the party any more financial support as things stood.
When big donors start saying they will give nothing more to the Conservatives as long as Johnson is PM, that’s a turning point. The question is not if he will go, it’s when.