Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Utter stupidity.. moments his mask slipped
14-1 4-1 4-1 6-1 10-1 33-1 20-1 12-1 20-1 Farage: I’ll return to stop betrayal
tion,
Bojo intended to run for the party leadership.
He scrapped the bid after his fitness to be in charge was questioned by fellow Brexiteer Michael Gove.
Mr Johnson has never hidden his leadership ambitions but his resignation letter last night made no mention of his plans.
After his departure he was 14/1 with Ladbrokes to become the next PM – trailing behind the likes of Sajid Javid at 4/1.
Mr Johnson’s exit comes two weeks after he betrayed apologise to Toki Sekiguchi after shoulder barging him as he ran with the ball during a “friendly” game of rugby. The constituents by flying to Afghanistan in a hastilyarranged visit to dodge a Commons vote on a third Heathrow runway. He had promised voters in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip patch, close to the West London airport, he would “lie down in front of bulldozers” to prevent Heathrow expansion. Some thought Mrs May pulled off a masterstroke by making Bojo the Foreign Secretary in 2016. He spent much of his time out of the country rather than cosying up to Tory MPS whose support he would need for a tilt at then London Mayor was on a business trip in Japan.
In May last year, Johnson won £1,000 in a competition for the best offensive poem about Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president. His limerick included the lines: “He sowed his wild oats, With the help of a goat.” In the EU referendum, after the then-us President said a Brexit UK would be back of the queue in trade negotiations, Johnson spoke of “the part-kenyan president’s ancestral dislike of the British Empire”.
At a fringe meeting at the Tory conference in October, he called The hyper-ambitious Home Secretary is joint favourite. He was demoted to Communities Secretary after poor spell as Business Sec, but came back as Amber Rudd fell. Backstabber expelled from Education because he was so unpopular with parents and teachers. Now at Environment, Gove is not trusted after knifing Johnson in 2016. Hates experts as they prove him wrong. a trip to Libya that August “fantastic”, saying: “They’ve got a brilliant vision to turn Sirte into the next Dubai. The only thing they’ve got to do is clear the dead bodies away.” Clueless and stuck in the 18th century, this wealthy City shark reeks of privilege. The Old Etonian took his family nanny canvassing and championed austerity. Rees-mogg in No 10 is a Labour dream. Crashed and burned when she ran against May in 2016. Lived up to her “Loathsome” nickname by asking if a childless May could be a PM. Demoted to Commons Leader, she is supported only by oddballs and fruitcakes. the top job. Soon after his return as an MP at the 2015 general election, he was seen in a Commons bar accompanied only by his sister, journalist Rachel Johnson.
Witnesses said he looked “lonely” and surprised no one was trying to engage him in conversation.
And the conclusion in the aftermath of the 2016 leadership debacle was he had missed his chance to take the helm.
Insiders said the Tory train had moved on and there were better candidates who were less controversial. Jacob Rees-mogg – another posh, millionaire Old Etonian –
In 2004, he said the city wallowed in “victim status” over Hillsborough and repeated the false claim “drunken fans” were to blame. He apologised. The Private Pike filling in as Defence Secretary has risen without trace. He is a magnet for poor judgment after letting his ambition outrank his ability. He would be out of his depth in a parade-ground puddle. Promotion to Brexit Secretary has propelled the ex-lawyer up the leadership ladder. Brexiteer is seen as a cold fish, best known for having same lunch every day and calling feminists “obnoxious bigots.” then leapfrogged him as the party’s favourite Brexiteer.
While Mr Johnson was London Mayor from 2008 to 2016, his speeches at Conservative Party conferences left the Tory faithful in rapture.
And as he toured the UK in the referendum campaign in his red bus emblazoned with promises about NHS funding if the UK voted to “take back control”, it seemed he could be destined for No 10. He became favourite to replace Mr Cameron but bottled it after Mr Gove’s intervention.
Mr Johnson has spent two years Don’t all laugh at once. Boris’ replacement as Foreign Secretary genuinely believes he is leader material. There are cuddly toys with more gravitas. Former Health Sec ditched Remain views to win over Brexiteers. Smart and sassy, the leader of Scots Tories is seen as one of the few Conservatives with popular appeal. But not being an MP in the House of Commons is the mother of all handicaps to be PM for lesbian kick-boxer. brooding as the Brexit he promoted has been whittled away.
He has written newspaper articles trying to box in the PM.
And he has sounded off at supposedly secret dinners, attacking Mrs May’s Brexit plan.
She indulged him, rather than firing him. But in the aftermath of the Chequers summit, she insisted collective Cabinet responsibility had been restored.
It was a thinly-veiled warning anyone who stepped out of line would have to quit or face the sack.
Bojo tersely announced his resignation in a brief statement.
His pride wounded, his Brexit vision in tatters, only time will tell if his departure has left him as stranded as he was on that zipwire before the Olympics in 2012. FORMER UKIP leader Nigel Farage has vowed to return to lead the party if Brexit is suspended or delayed.
In a threat to MPS he says are obstructing efforts to quit the EU, the MEP said: “I will have no choice but to resume campaigning in all parts of the United Kingdom.”
Mr Farage said if he is forced to act he will do so when current UKIP leader Gerard Batten reaches the end of his term in March next year.
He added: “The latest Brexit betrayal must be reversed.”