Boris: This is how we Tories WILL beat Captain Crasheroonie Snoozefest
‘There is no desire to vote for Keir Starmer’
BORIS Johnson has issued a rallying cry to the Conservative Party, urging it to unite to defeat Sir Keir Starmer.
The former prime minister told supporters at the Carlton Club that the political dynamic will change allowing the Tories to ‘win again’.
Branding Sir Keir ‘ Sir Crasheroonie Snoozefest’, he told supporters and club members there was ‘ only one party’ that would cut tax, stand up to union barons and disrupt ‘evil’ people smuggling gangs.
Mr Johnson said: ‘ Only one party that really believes in Brexit. And when people realise this, I think the political dynamic is going to change.
‘There is no desire to vote for Keir Starmer, for Sir Crasheroonie Snoozefest.
‘So never give in, keep fighting, keep backing the Government – keep making the case for levelling up, for opportunities and for a dynamic low tax global Britain.
That is how we will win again.’
He added: ‘At this dawn of this bright new year I make some confident predictions.
‘Inflation will come down dramatically – across the world and this country.
‘China will get through Covid, which will be very important for the global economy.
‘Putin will lose in Ukraine. And the Conservative Party will recover – people will realise that there is only nly one party that yearns to reduce the burden of tax. There is only one party that really believes in extending the joys of home ownership.’
Mr Johnson made the speech as he unveiled a new portrait of himself at the Carlton Club, a tradition for all outgoing Conservative prime ministers.
His comments calling for party unity will be interpreted as an attempt to distance himself from speculation he is preparing a comeback.
Friends said the former PM has not been in touch with ‘Bring Back Boris’ campaigners, and that he would ‘have to be coaxed back’ to frontline politics.
The speculation about Mr Johnson’s return came after former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, a close ally of the exprime minister, wrote in the Mail on Sunday that it was ‘Boris or die’ for the Tory party. But Carrie Johnson’s best friend Nimco Ali wrote in the Evening Standard: ‘This idea of Boris Johnson coming back is not going to happen and it can’t. I am also not even sure Boris wants to come back.
He has been PM and now he can focus on other things that he cares about, just as former PMs have done.’
The almost life-size painting of Mr Johnson shows him with his arms crossed, in a blue suit and tie, with his trademark flop of scruffy blond hair.
The artist, Richard Stone, has painted almost all the leading members of the Royal Family including the late Queen, the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and The Princess Royal.
His portrait of Baroness Thatcher was commissioned by former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown, to outrage from his party. It now hangs in No 10.
There were 100 supporters at the event on Tuesday, where tickets cost around £120-a-head.
The painting, which will not hang on the walls of the club, was revealed to cheers and banging of tables from guests.
HE was at the Carlton Club – the Tories’ spiritual home – to unveil his post-prime ministerial portrait. But by the end of Tuesday, all eyes were on Boris Johnson himself.
Boosterish as ever, he said the Conservatives united would defeat plodding Keir Starmer. Only one party, he said, would slash the tax burden, extend home ownership and stop Channel migrants – and it wasn’t Labour.
Not 24 hours later, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan – who left her state comprehensive at 16 – gave a passionate defence of Britain’s private schools, which Labour’s class warriors want to extinguish (even though twice as many Opposition MPs as the national average attended one).
Her message of aspiration, personal choice and wanting the very best for our children should be in every Conservative’s DNA.
While we believe Mr Sunak can win the next election with his formidable political skills, perhaps his army of spin doctors should take notes from these colleagues.
By injecting more optimism, the PM could turn the tide decisively in the Tories’ favour.
■ THE use of cash has risen for the first time in 13 years as households seek to manage their finances better during the cost of living squeeze. So will the banks (bailed out by taxpayers after the crash) now put customers before profits and halt the relentless closure of branches and holes-in-the-wall? We won’t hold our breath.