Boris was never my first choice, but he hasn’t put a foot wrong

Iwas not an enthusiastic supporter of Boris Johnson. He is, as we have all long known, intelligent, amusing and thoroughly charming. But during Theresa May’s tenure, I always thought that there were serious question marks about his loyalty and his willingness to be a real team player. Nor was he a blazing success as foreign secretary. Then there is the little matter of the fact that I voted Remain.

In short, when the Tory leadership campaign started, it’s safe to say that Boris wasn’t my first choice.

But ever since he took the top job, he hasn’t put a foot wrong. I’m a great believer that while you do not have to like your leader, you must respect him. Boris has certainly won my respect. He is behaving as a leader, not a manager.

Crucial to that effort has been getting the country moving on Brexit. The majority voted to Leave and, whatever any of us said back in 2016, this we must do.

The House of Commons continually undermining the Prime Minister’s aim to carry out Brexit has been bad enough. But it was even more infuriating when MPS, having prevented Brexit via the Benn Act, then turned on him for missing his October 31 deadline. As an ex-soldier I understand that more often than not even the best-laid plans have to be changed after the initial contact with the enemy. What matters is how you respond.

The willingness of MPS to block the electorate’s will echoes their arrogant behaviour before and during the expenses scandal. They might not like it in Westminster, but his courage in standing up to them has undoubtedly won Boris new supporters.

In removing the whip from rebel Tories, he demonstrated a clarity of purpose that was sorely missing from the first three years of the Brexit process. It paid off when finally, through courage, determination and selfbelief, he not only achieved Parliament’s endorsement for his Brexit deal but wrestled the House of Commons into accepting a general election. Compare this with Jeremy Corbyn, continually clamouring for an election, then flipflopping whenever the opportunity came to make it a reality, until he crumbled at the last minute.

Hopefully the election will deliver a government with a strong enough majority to push on with Brexit. But that won’t be enough on its own. To improve our politics, all parties need to take this opportunity to clear out the deadwood.

We cannot carry on with so many MPS so badly out of touch with the public. Each candidate should be looked at by their constituency management and not just readopted on the nod. Some must be held to account for their previous behaviour and deselected.

We also need a strong opposition and, if it is to be Labour, I hope that the Parliamentary Labour Party will have the courage to stand against the current leadership and revitalise their party. It has been sad to see so many Labour MPS disagreeing with the Corbyn leadership but not having the courage to do anything meaningful about it. It may be that the days of needing to defend the workers from the “dark satanic mills” have passed, but we do still need a realistic and effective opposition.

Against that backdrop of dishonesty, mendacity and dysfunction in Parliament, I find myself, surprisingly, saying: “Well done, Prime Minister.” I hope, as Sir Winston put it, that he will “Keep buggering on”. Cometh the hour, cometh the man.