UK General Discussion:The Rt. Hon Alex Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, Populist Hero

[Geoffrey Howe]

Can't you just imagine Trump saying these lines in that strange intonation of his?

"Peppa Pig World is very much my kind of place: It has very safe streets, discipline in schools..."

[Torrain]

Can't you just imagine Trump saying these lines in that strange intonation of his?

"Peppa Pig World is very much my kind of place: It has very safe streets, discipline in schools..."

I've often thought that the Boris-Trump comparison was a little shallow (given Johnson's definitely got a little more depth to him, and appears to actively play the fool for political gain).

On days like today however, it seems rather apt.

Boris's buffoon act was helpful at getting him into power (either "he's harmless" or "he's one of us"). I doubt it's going to be much help keeping him in power though. If we really are headed towards another Tory leadership election, saying "I'm a lovable buffoon" just lets some other cabinet member or old grandee present themselves as the "serious" candidate.

[Blair]

It's been lost in the coverage but it's worth noting that he's essentially slowly soiled himself in every job that he's held before he quietly heads to the exit- he was an awful constituency MP, he would have lost re-election for Mayor in 2016 and his term as Foreign Secretary was a disaster*.

*It was a mistake of May not to give him one of the difficult & toxic departments e.g Housing or the Home Office. It would have had a much greater chance of ending his career.

[CumbrianLefty]

A rather bizarre speech this morning from bojo at the CBI where he among other things did an impersonation of a combustion engine, lost his place in his speech and then talked about Peppa Pig world.

The problem is much like Brown in 2009 and to a degree Keir earlier this year once things start going wrong everyone is looking for more evidence to reaffirm it…

Starmer has done quite well to come back from that, if we are being perfectly honest. Though his ratings are still lower than they were a year ago.

[Lief 🗽]

Nice to see Labour return to a winning message like this after a decade plus of electoral disaster.
https://twitter.com/uklabour/status/1462721239810809857?s=21

[Silent Hunter]

"Fiscal discipline" is not something that appeals to the further left, who see it as a euphemism for cuts.

[Pericles]

"Fiscal discipline" is not something that appeals to the further left, who see it as a euphemism for cuts.

Labour's economic brand is pretty poor with the voters they need to win so they need to reassure people they will be responsible before they listen to their offer for better public services.

[LAB-LIB]

A rather bizarre speech this morning from bojo at the CBI where he among other things did an impersonation of a combustion engine, lost his place in his speech and then talked about Peppa Pig world.

The problem is much like Brown in 2009 and to a degree Keir earlier this year once things start going wrong everyone is looking for more evidence to reaffirm it…

The speech has been called 'shambolic'. From whom you may ask? Not from Labour, not from Johnson's enemies in the Tory Party, but from a Number Ten source.

I have to say, of all the things about that speech (which I only saw a two-minute clip of) the thing that struck me the most wasn't what he said but how he said it. His eyes looked dead, when he was joking around, it looked as if his heart wasn't in it. He's usually an optimist, but the difficult couple of weeks he's had is getting to him and it's showing. I'm used to him saying stupid things, but I'm not used to him looking so down.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

It's been lost in the coverage but it's worth noting that he's essentially slowly soiled himself in every job that he's held before he quietly heads to the exit- he was an awful constituency MP, he would have lost re-election for Mayor in 2016 and his term as Foreign Secretary was a disaster*.

*It was a mistake of May not to give him one of the difficult & toxic departments e.g Housing or the Home Office. It would have had a much greater chance of ending his career.

Yeah some people are speculating that he's struggling with long Covid (which may be the case), but this is a PM who was hiding in a fridge from interviewers during the 2019 election. He was never not a bumbling media performer.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Can't you just imagine Trump saying these lines in that strange intonation of his?

"Peppa Pig World is very much my kind of place: It has very safe streets, discipline in schools..."

I can, actually, and viscerally.

[Blair]

The interesting thing is the gap that has been created in both tax and public spending

I always thought Labour needed to hammer away at public spending waste from the Tories in order to stop these sort of attacks- and this is why they avoided saying  how they would fund social care (as for Labour it would mean a tax rise somewhere)

This can of course change before 2023/24 but tax and spending were always the get out of jail free cards for the Tories- and people forget how much of the 2019 attacks on JC were over spending (compared to the OTT 2017 attacks on the IRA)

And to quote GB it needs to be prudence with a purpose for Labour- I’m not sure what this money will go on.

[TheTide]

Sunak already has turned into Gordon Brown to Johnson's Tony Blair according to reports.

[CumbrianLefty]

Which might also mean he turns out to be a better Chancellor than PM, of course.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

The grumbling from the Tory backbenches seems to be aggravated by the perception that Boris isn't running the hard right agenda that he should be with the size of the majority they won in 2019, which makes me doubt a replacement would be more electorally optimal.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Oh it's quite possible that a replacement would be a complete disaster.

[afleitch]

Oh it's quite possible that a replacement would be a complete disaster.

The cabinet lacks suitable PM material in a way the shadcab doesn't. And that's starting to get some traction outside the Westminster bubble.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I mean, when Lizz 'Pork Markets' Truss is talked of seriously as a successor and may even really do it, then, yes, the bench is... thin. It's actually quite interesting that the bench has not become deeper and stronger with substantial electoral gains. The volume of the parliamentary party is only as large as it is because of deadwood.

[Lord Halifax]

I mean, when Lizz 'Pork Markets' Truss is talked of seriously as a successor

That is a disgrace

[LAB-LIB]

Sunak already has turned into Gordon Brown to Johnson's Tony Blair according to reports.

Has he been going to Johnson's office asking, "when are you going to leave and let me be Prime Minister?" Because apparently that's something Gordon would do when he was Chancellor.

[afleitch]

https://mobile.twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1463565418145226752

Or 'Mayor and panto stars switch on Christmas lights.'

What makes this so funny is twenty minutes later he tweeted as if he knew that already.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

O.K. that's actually quite, quite hilarious. Amazing.

[Blair]

The biggest sign of decline is the fact that Raab is deputy prime minister- someone who was despised by his colleagues, seen as an inept headbanger who was terrible in both his ministerial roles (in both he quite literally failed)  and someone who will most likely lose his seat in 2024. The Tories have the luxury of appointing their deputy PM!

That’s another sign of the decline was the fact that Kit Malthouse, the rather low profile junior minister and former deputy mayor when Bojo was in City Hall, is being touted as a seasoned hand!

It’s also early days but Nadine Dorries appears to be attempting to reach Goves levels of hatred.

[Silent Hunter]

O.K. that's actually quite, quite hilarious. Amazing.

Oh, no, it isn't!

[CumbrianLefty]

It’s also early days but Nadine Dorries appears to be attempting to reach Goves levels of hatred.

She maybe outdoes Patel for both that *and* stupidity.

[TheTide]

Dorries, like Johnson, appeared on trashy reality/panel/talent shows prior to holding important governmental positions. Usually it's the other way around - see Balls, Cable, Widdecombe and so on.