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

[MABA 2020]

It's difficult to judge Boris too harshly when there's an example of a far worst response just across the sea in a country Britons are quite interested in, but I think over time the governments failings will cause his ratings to drop.

I mean I don't think anyone here expects this to end quickly right?

[MABA 2020]

Starmer made the right decision on this one, after years of dealing with this people should know better

[MABA 2020]

Starmer has plenty of time to change peoples perception of the party, it's not like there's going to be an election anytime soon. He's made good progress in three months and he's got another four years to finish the job.

[MABA 2020]

What happened yesterday is truly awful and the worst part is of course that this political violence seems to be becoming a trend in this country with the murder of Jo Cox five years ago.

R.I.P. and lets hope that this doesn't continue

[MABA 2020]

Obviously hope the Queen stays in good health and is with us for many more years... but at the same time I'm fascinated to see what happens when Charles becomes king.

[MABA 2020]

I guess this is the kind of confidence you get from winning a landslide election victory after 9 years in power and then continuing to lead in the polls though a deadly pandemic and worker shortages

[MABA 2020]

I'm quite surprised by how badly things have gone recently, remember when people thought he was gonna call an early election lol

[MABA 2020]

I'm quite surprised by how badly things have gone recently, remember when people thought he was gonna call an early election lol

Really? I’ve always thought Boris would run out the clock on this Parliament until 2024 (assuming he stays in charge that long, which now seems less likely). Tory odds of another majority this size have to be pretty slim, given they’ve essentially been in a polling slump since January.

Labour only overtook them in the past month, when the scandals came to a climax, but it’s been a steady decline from their peak popularity during the “everyone can have a vaccine soon and the pandemic is probably over” days.

Yes! I don't there was ever any possibility of Boris calling an early election for the reasons you laid out plus the the looming spectre of 2017, but people in the summer were predicting he would because the tories seemed safely ahead at the time with the vaccine bounce.

[MABA 2020]

Surely the memory of 2017 will prevent any new leader from calling a snap election, not when the tory's have a comfortable majority until 2024?

Do hope he goes in the new year though, it will be very funny if the Johnson era is shorter than the May era

[MABA 2020]

Does yesterdays dire result cement a no confidence vote in the new year?

[MABA 2020]

A big issue is that there are not too many capable people in the cabinet able to take over and sort out the mess. Johnson has created a mess and broken a lot of trust with his supporters and voters. Several current cabinet members want to become leader (but none are viewed as being particularly talented) and it is believed that the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and the Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, are both reported to be 'on manoeuvres' to court back bench MPs.

Tbh if I were Liz or Rishi I'm not sure I'd want to take over at this point in time only to be captain of a sinking ship.

[MABA 2020]

It feels weird that I, a right-winger, am probably one of the only people here that actually likes Tony Blair.

Actually no on second thoughts that isn't weird - it makes perfect sense...

I like his governments and record aside from the obvious stupid war, the man himself I'm conflicted about

[MABA 2020]

This has been a fun day.

As long as he's gone before the end of July I think he'll be a shorter lived PM then May and I believe something like beginning of June to be beaten by Brown. Here's hoping.

[MABA 2020]

What do we think happens next if the letters come in, but Johnson fairly narrowly wins the confidence vote?  (Say about 200 to 160.)

That's what happened with T. May which didn't turn out very well did it? I don't think the tories will make the same mistake again, if there is a no confidence vote I'm pretty sure he'll lose it since they know it'll be their only chance for a year.

[MABA 2020]

Regardless of whether todays events delayed a confidence vote or not, it was still a bad day for the government. Boris is caught in that downward spiral you can't get out of, if it's this week or next week or six months from now doesn't matter much.

[MABA 2020]

I'd be perfectly happy if Boris sticks around a while at this point, since all he's doing is damaging the Conservative Party. I know the Tories have a reputation for being ruthless in their desire to do whatever it takes to hold power, but I haven't seen any actual evidence of this in recent years.

[MABA 2020]

Out of Downing Street, always something new...

Ok this is getting absurd now

[MABA 2020]

As I said last week, the Tory party is not as cutthroat as they like to say they are

[MABA 2020]

Looks like Dishy Rishi is implicated in this one, too. Its not been a great few days for him.

I see Sunaks fate as becoming one of those "prime ministers we never had" as opposed to prime minister.

[MABA 2020]

At risk of going to the Tower am I the only one who thought the recent announcement from the Queen was rather a sign of where they expect things to be going over the next year or two...

It has been widely reported in the past but I can't help but wonder if it was done to avoid the rather unseemly chance of it being done right at the last minute.

Tbh, when you’re her age, just about anything can kill you. Probably better to issue such a proclamation sooner rather than later, but I don’t think it’s really a sign of anything imminent regarding her health.

I hope she beat Louis XV record before she go would be fitting end to a reigns off topic ish when Charles becomes between the death to coronations that have any effect on the pm approvals ratings at all?

Well she's got 70 years under her belt as of today, just needs to make it to summer 2024 to beat Louis

[MABA 2020]

But the MoS this morning has "TORY MPs SAY THIS IS BOJO's FALKLANDS", so......

Desperately trying to will it to be true

[MABA 2020]

And at least part of him maybe still thinks his stock can rise again if he just hangs in there.

This is likely unrealistic, but we can now all see he isn't that good at actual politics.

He became Chancellor of the Exchequer, so he's a lot better than me.

No just luckier/richer

[MABA 2020]

Okay so Keir resigning would make Boris look worst but do we really think he wouldn't just brazen his way though it like everything else and then things are largely the same for the government expect they've successfully removed Labours most popular leader since 2007? Obviously their preferred outcome would be Keir gets fined and then stays but I don't think him resigning would be the worst thing for them.

[MABA 2020]

A Labour-LibDem government is more attractive than one dependent on the SNP, this is the opposite of a scare campaign lol.

Exactly my thoughts, I'd rather a Labour gov reliant on the lib dems than any nationalist parties

[MABA 2020]

This is damning, if only the Tory parliamentary party had the spine to do anything about this.