This is Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, commonly known as “Boris”, the Conservative Party’s candidate for the Mayor of London. Voting is tomorrow, 1st May 2008.
Wikipedia has wicked information on Boris whose early life began thus:
“Johnson is the eldest of the four children (including Rachel) of Stanley Johnson, a former Conservative MEP and employee of the European Commission and World Bank and his first wife, painter Charlotte Johnson Wahl, the daughter of Sir James Fawcett, a prominent barrister[4] and president of the European Commission of Human Rights.[5] (Stanley Johnson also has two children with his second wife.) On his father’s side Johnson is the great-grandson of Ali Kemal Bey, a liberal Turkish journalist and interior minister in the government of Damat Ferid Pasha, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire who was murdered during the Turkish War of Independence. During World War I Boris’s grandfather and great aunt were recognised as British subjects and took their grandmother’s maiden name of Johnson.
Johnson was born in New York and educated at the European School in Brussels [5], Ashdown House and then at Eton College, where he was a King’s Scholar. He read Classics at Balliol College, Oxford as a Brackenbury scholar, and was elected President of the Oxford Union, at his second attempt. It has been claimed by Frank Luntz[6] and Radek Sikorski[3] that, tactically, to gain the Presidency he touted himself as a supporter of the Social Democratic Party, then a dominant current at the University, though Johhnson denies that he was more than their preferred candidate. While at Oxford he was also a member of the Bullingdon Club, an exclusive student dining society known for its raucous feasts, and was involved in the British-Arab University Association. He was a close friend of Darius Guppy, who was later convicted of fraud, at both Eton and Oxford.”
Read the rest here:
So far, so good, one dodgey friend aside. Lots of clever boxes ticked. I am preternaturally diposed to like those unusual characters who have been King’s scholars at Eton, but I make an exception for Boris for a very particular reason.
A while ago, but not that long ago, I was part of the audience for an edition of Question Time. Question Time (for those who don’t know) is a programme comprising topical questions posed to a panel made up mainly of politicians and the “Commentariat”. The show is hosted by old timer David Dimbleby and moves around the country with its portable studio. The conversation is invariably lively and the audience’s contribution is generally indicative of the nation at large. It is a useful litmus paper, watched by those who need to know what the country thinks. Anyone may apply to be in the audience, but the selection process is not transparent. I found myself chosen, and to my delight (but not surprise) so was my Muslim girl friend. Together with another acquaintance we sat on the very back row, mere observers since none of our carefully prepared questions had been chosen to be panel fodder. High above the stage, we had a perfect bird’s eye view of the members of the panel which included Boris Johnson and the gamekeeper-turned-poacher human rights activist Shami Chakrabarti, constantly in the media’s eye.
My opinon of both of them changed irreversibly that evening in the period before the programme went live, when nobody who mattered was watching. My opinion of Ms Chakrabarti took a dive as I watched her fawn over Boris, leaning over him, stroking him. My stomarch lurched. This was Shami Chakrabarti, left-wing rabid human rights activist, oozing over Boris Johnson, editor of the right-wing Spectator, former member with David Cameron of the despicable Bullingdon Club, and buffoon of the Conservative Party.
Bullingdon Club, ready for a night out. David Cameron, back row, one in from left. Boris, blonde, front row
And Boris? What did he do to earn my disdain? Why, he frequently, even once the programme was live but he was off-camera, messed up his hair quite deliberately. He ran his fingers backwards through his white mane, flipped locks from left to right, ensuring that he presented the dishevelled appearance that is his trademark but which I now knew to be just an affectation.
Boris’s Bendy Bus being blown up by Bond
Watch Boris at his best here, standing up to Jeremy Paxman on replacing “bendy buses” with good old fashioned routemasters, his best hope for the regeneration of London.
Or here, in a very amusing clip from Have I Got News For You (stick with the patchy bit in the middle) getting stuck in a conversation about his friend, the fraudster Darius Guppy. He is hung up to dry by Ian Hislop, the cheeky gnome, whose editorship of the satirical weekly, Private Eye, has given him a great deal of practice in catching people out, like Boris, for instance …
If Boris wins, it will not be a vote for Boris, but a vote against Brown. Brown may be not the most charismatic leader this country has ever had, and I wonder what Simon Baron Cohen would make of his ferocious intelligence, but he is honest to the core.
10 comments
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April 30, 2008 at 2:43 pm
catriona
I love Boris’s tousled hair! I think there is something very appealing and likeable about him (although I am sure I am easily hoodwinked)!
Catriona
May 7, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Stavros
M,
OK I can understand your disdain for this Boris character but speaking strictly as an outsider, I can’t stomach Mr. Livingstone. BTW, Michael Barone is a political analyst I respect. Lo and behold I come across his post about the recent election. I claim zero expertise although I am curious about politics across the pond. Does Mike know what he is talking about or should I look elsewhere for insights?
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/barone/2008/5/5/london-elects-conservative-boris-johnson-mayor.html#read_more
Also read the funny comments. Labour vs. Labor.
May 7, 2008 at 11:24 pm
adifferentvoice
Stavros,
Who am I to say, but I’d say that Michael Barone has it just right – about the sort of people who voted for Boris, and what it means for Labor … A balanced, fair, objective appraisal of what happened and why.
Why am I not surprised that you don’t like Mr Livingstone?!
Thanks for the link – we missed everything whilst we were away at the weekend.
Catriona (see comment above) is very happy, but we think she just wants to mother him.
May 8, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Hermes
I like Boris Johnson. Better than that Livingstone reprobate. And the Spectator is a good magazine. Takis Theodorakopoulos writes for them.
May 9, 2008 at 8:02 am
adifferentvoice
Hermes, if you say so, then it must be so.
May 9, 2008 at 9:39 am
Hermes
I usually vote Labour in Australia because in a multicultural society the natural party of government is the Left. However, let me qualify that I prefer the male dominated, thuggish, muscular, corporatist, trade unionist, staunch Republican, Catholic, sexist, heavy drinking Australian Labour Party of the past. Trust me the old Labour Party over here was as rough as they come. I do not like the progressive mish mash it has devolved into.
But in Great Britain I am not sure why people vote Labour. Although both sides appear hellbent on destroying the essence of England, Labour are extremists. However, there is the prospect of further devolution and the weakening of the British state. That should be welcomed. But that will mean more English migrants to Australia. What a quandry!
On balance, you should vote Conservative or maybe even BNP. Keep England Enger-land and the English out of Australia.
May 9, 2008 at 1:12 pm
adifferentvoice
Hermes,
Several things …
First, the essence of a country does not depend on a government for its survival, but on the people themselves. Look at a recent post – a Bank Holiday Monday horse show, with heavy horses (Suffolk punches), carriage driving, side saddle riding, and not a whiff of government in sight. That is one essence of England – it has many and varied perfumes. True, the government may appear to attempt to stifle some of the things that England does so well – like foxhunting – but hunting still goes on much as before, except children now wear T shirts saying “Still Hunting” on them.
Secondly, the Labour Party in the United Kingdom is a broad church, much like the Anglican church and, indeed, the Conservatives. There are extremists in both main parties, but many moderate people too. The Labour Party did well in the recent elections (which were not all about London) in three areas, funnily enough. Ipswich, Slough (think Eton), and Oxford (think University). I found that amusing.
You are on record as being anti-English (which I understand more than you ever give me credit for) or, to be more precise, anti the English outside England. I’m sure Boris is a lovely man and that his use of “piccaninies” was quoted entirely out of context and intended as irony, but I was not impressed by his behaviour when he thought nobody was watching. It’s a bit like the very sound advice to judge a person by the way they treat waiters and road sweepers …
As for the BNP, it strikes me they probably match your description of the old Australian Labour Party, so I am can see why you would advise that we vote for them, but I’ll carry on voting as instructed by my conscience, and leave Australia to the Australians …
And perhaps I should have left a description of Boris to a man who knew him rather than a woman who had only watched him briefly ( taken from the BBC website):
“His headmaster at the school which Prince William and Prince Harry were later to attend, Sir Eric Anderson, was also Tony Blair’s housemaster during his schooldays at Fettes – often dubbed the Scottish Eton.
Sir Eric could spot similarities between the two future politicians.
“Both of them opted to live on their wits rather than preparation,” he told Mr Johnson’s biographer, Andrew Gimson.
“They both enjoyed performing. In both cases people found them life-enhancing and fun to have around, but also maddening.”
But unlike Mr Blair, Mr Johnson did not rebel against the system.
“Boris wasn’t a rebel at all – a satirist and a humorist rather than a rebel,” added Sir Eric.”
May 9, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Stavros
M,
I must agree with you regarding the essence of a country not being dependent on its government or the elites who govern. Increasingly I am coming to the conclusion that they are seriously out of touch with the problems and needs of those they govern. It is so difficult to really size up these folks before one cast a vote for them. There are many disadvantages for having an interminable election process here in the US however, one up side is that eventually the real person emerges. Countries are defined by the people that make them up and ultimately by their individual and collective accomplishments, not by their leaders who come and go, some good and some bad. We get the leaders we deserve.
May 9, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Hermes
Margaret, you are too partisan to take seriously. Obviously, Labour is the only thing that matters to you. That is fine. Have you heard the lyrics of the Pulp song, Common People?
May 9, 2008 at 10:15 pm
adifferentvoice
Stavros,
Almost everyone here is gripped by the will she?/won’t he? of the run up to your elections, and I’ve just spent the afternoon on a birthday walk with a group of women where Obama’s book (Dreams from my Father) was offered and adored by several of those present. I still don’t agree with this, though, “We get the leaders we deserve”. We get the leaders (in the UK) that a majority of those who could be bothered to vote, voted for or, in the case of our prime minister, those we had previously elected chose. We hope that those we’ve voted for will turn out alright, but it’s often quite difficult to say until they’ve been around a while (as you say). A long engagement would often be a good idea.
***
Hermes, I have now.
Your point?