Bonkers came and went. Liz Truss came and went. Now… There is Rishi Sunak who pleases nobody. Well… Perhaps Labour… Actually, I feel some sympathy for Liz Truss. She came in with a lot of good ideas. She attempted to do something, to actually keep her promises. She approached implementation poorly and she lacked Thatcher’s spine and mettle. Too many in Westminster wanted her gone. They only tolerated her very grudgingly and got rid of her when they had the first opportunity. Afterwards, they ensured that they’d get their man.
At least 100 MPs had to support a candidature. That meant that the process would be faster, but that it would also prevent a non-establishment pick from going far. That is, no risk of a Kemi Badenoch or Suella Braverman becoming PM. Most importantly, the party members had to be bypassed. They didn’t want Sunak.
With no real opposition, Sunak managed to take the highest political office in the land. He is, of course, an incredibly intelligent, competent and generally decent man. He has a fine eye for detail, a good work ethic and he isn’t prone to being swept away by the passions of the moment — in stark contrast with Bonkers. At the same time, he’s a profoundly unimaginative man. His economic policies are largely inline with those of Dementia 46, Trudeau the Lesser, Little Manny Macaroon and Sergeant Scholz. He is making some decent noises. For example, he’s not going to Cop-out 27 and he’s banned King Chaz 3.0 from attending — holding up Truss’s initial prohibition. He’s also indicated that the Channel crisis isn’t tolerable and has sought to reign in “woke” policing. How much is just hot air is to be seen.
Boadicea's Chariot 
His Majesty might not be attending COP27, but the PM has wisely changed his mind.
Hi True Blue – welcome!
Hi Christopher,
Just a friendly comment- you could, perhaps, remember that not everyone views the world through the same lens as you do. Your opening word almost deterred me from responding to your post.
However, as I’m sure you are aware, I find it very hard to remain silent!
Some of us, and that includes many of my U.K. correspondents do not agree with your analysis of Boris Johnson. And, unless you understand that, I would, sadly, have to refrain from answering your post on this subject. There would be no point in doing so. Please return to your normal clear thinking!
Many people in the U.K. are absolutely disgusted that Rishi quite clearly was the leader of a long-term coup against Boris Johnson. Where do I get that opinion from? From reading the comments on U.K. newspapers. Not the journos but those from the general public.
Many are even more disgusted that one of the unspoken rules of British Politics has been broken – that is that the hand that wields the knife should never be given the crown. Look at Heseltine v Thatcher.
It is absolutely clear that many Conservative M.P.s wanted rid of Johnson – despite owing their seats to him. The man has more charisma in his little toe-nail than most of them have in the whole of their bodies – and, frankly, as far as I’m concerned seized on every opportunity to side with with Britain’s delinquent media, the Labour Party to highlight his mistakes to be rid of him.
Yes he made mistakes – show me one P.M. who hasn’t. He got Brexit done. He got vaccines out better than any other country. And he energised the world into dealing with Russia over Ukraine. Three pretty important achievements as far as I am concerned.
It’s also obvious that Conservative M.P.s were determined to hand the position of P.M. to Rishi – quite regardless of how their grass-root voters felt.
One only has to look at how they dealt with Truss and the following ‘set up’ of who should replace her to realise just how determined those M.P.s were.
And what have they actually achieved?
More of the same failed policies – they are throwing coins into a coffee machine that doesn’t work in the hope that the policies that have already been shown to fail will somehow, miraculously, work this time. Truss was on the right track.
You claim Rishi is ‘incredibly intelligent, competent and generally decent man’.
Yes he went to Winchester – but not on a scholarship – he failed to achieve one. Are you aware that Boris got a scholarship to Eton? Not an easy thing to do. I went to a Public School – on a scholarship – along with a number of daughters of Labour M.P.s who paid for their children’s education.
As for Rishi being a ‘generally decent man’. He has an American ‘green card’; a wife who claims non-dom status to avoid paying tax in the U.K.; and, far worse, established a web-site ‘Rishi 4PM’ way before he pulled the plug on Boris. Those are not the actions of a ‘decent man’ in my book.
As for his comments re the ‘boats’ and ‘the woke’ let’s take a rain-check and see what he actually achieves. Words are cheap.
Boadicea: We are largely in agreement. I was horrified when Sunak became PM. I did not want him anywhere near Downing Street. He was a capable chancellor, but his ambition got the better of him. There was talk of having Boris return as PM and Sunak as chancellor — but… That would have been a nightmare. Sunak proved himself to be a political axeman. Boris would have had to be an absolute eejit to even consider giving Sunak another go. By “decent” I mean publicly modest, tee-totalling and well-behaved at the table. I was well-aware of his baggage.
I’m of two minds on the two. On one hand, Boris was often rash, impulsive and his lack of discipline and focus on detail could be highly problematic. On the other hand, we knew what his problems were and he made no effort to hide them. He has charisma mixed with a generous portion of cringe. He got some things done, but… He didn’t read the fine text on the British Liberation Bill. The EU are rubbish at most things and useless generally. When it comes to legalese and legal pedantry, their skill is unmatched. It was better than anything May would have managed. Of course, May’s failures eventually bound Boris’s hands. I can’t help but thinking that the situation would be very different if someone who wasn’t so hostile to the UK were US president. Trump, for all his failures, would have put pressure on the EU to behave themselves and he was keen on drafting a comprehensive trade agreement with the UK. A nearly borderless trading arrangement with the USA along with more favourable terms with Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Australia and South Korea would have more than made up with drop in trade with the EU. The problem is that with the rise of Dementia 46, the UK was made more vulnerable. Boris could have done a lot better. If he had focused more, if he had been more responsible, if he hadn’t become Carrie’s poppet he could probably have turned the UK into a political Japan — one where there is a token opposition, but one with few real prospects.
Sunak lacks Boris’s positives, but he also lacks many of his negatives. He is disciplined, focused and thorough. Did his money, did his connexions help? Without a doubt — but so did Boris’s. They’re both members, in the end, of the same old boy’s club. Boris was the man who changed the regulations to allow people to visit newborn children in hospital when Carrie gave birth. Boris was the man who changed regulations to allow people to travel outside the UK to purchase properties overseas when he bought a house in France. Boris never intended to follow the Draconian policies he forced on the country. He then misled Parliament. I agree with you about Sunak’s negatives. I grudgingly thought I’d give him a fair go to prove my negative impression of him before slagging him off. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for him to do just that.
I was aware of how they treated Truss. I was also aware that the IMF, Bank of England and many of her opponents in the markets decided to over-react at the same time and cause a run on Sterling and destabilise her premiership. She was correct in her policies, but she did not implement them well. Now… All that is left is more of the same. The thing is… Whether they like it or now, 2016 happened. There are sometimes years in which things change and there is no going back. There was 1848, there was 1914, there was 1936 and there was 1968. People want change, people want a new, better direction. People will not accept the managed decline of their lives. Not easily, in any case.
In the end, we’re largely in agreement. Yes, I am hostile to Boris. I always will be. It’s personal. After all, were it not for Boris, I’d be living in Bath and well on my way to being a naturalised British citizen. Instead, I was displaced and have been reduced to living in god-forsaken Dementialand as a grudgingly tolerated tenant in a spare room. Of course, it now looks like I can finally get out but my future is anything but clear and I face an uphill fight to not be deported to Germany if things don’t turn out.
Boadicea: Hear, hear! Well thought, well written and SLTT (Stuff Like That There). And thank you for not resorting to using derogatory nicknames just to show how clever you think you are.
By all accounts, Boris Johnson is an exceptionally bright individual. Too bad he’s human and subject to some human failings such as the inexcusable desire to have a good time.
It’s also too bad that nobody mentioned the wallpaper.
Hi Christopher, I understand and share your antipathy towards Johnson. No denying he is intellectually very bright, but he lacks common sense, courage and above all, integrity. His behaviour on the global and even national stage stuck me as being utterly puerile and it got very old very quickly. I could never take him seriously and never trusted a word he said.
Liz Truss on the other hand struck me as someone with more integrity than most of her colleagues but lacking intlellect and courage. She should have stuck to her guns over the mini budget.
Rish Sunak is just another WEF stooge as far as I can tell.
The UK is in a death spiral with all political parties in a race to the bottom. The photograph of Jeremy Hunt on the front page of The Times and the Telegraph, says it all. It will end in tears.
I am sorry that you have been having such a tough time.
Sipu: When Theresa May was PM, I gave her the benefit of the doubt. She was well-meaning, but utterly out of her depth. She did not have much charisma, but after Cameron’s vapid showmanship, it was a refreshing change. Although some might have missed it, I’ve long hurled barbs at politicians who earn my ire. There was Wavey Davey, Toxic Tess, Bonkers the Clown and Fishy Sunak. Mocking pollies is one of life’s few remaining pleasures and I won’t be deterred from it. After all, the official response to mockery is how we can see where we truly stand.
Boris had his strengths. To his credit, he got British Liberation over the line. His demerit, like Theresa May’s, is that he was so eager to leave with a deal that he took a deal that wasn’t brilliant. As a staunch unionist, the betrayal of the people of Ulster is too much to accept quietly. In time, his lack of real convictions made it hard to take him seriously. He was a showman of little substance or depth. He threw away any conservative principles he had when marrying Carrie and turned into a mop-headed Blair tribute act. If he had made mistakes and sometimes had an estranged relationship with the truth, I could have easily forgiven him. In my life, I’ve seen Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown, Cameron, May, Johnson and Truss come and go. I’ve seen Kohl, Schroeder and Merkel come and go. I’ve seen Reagan, Bush Sr, Clinton, Bush Jr, Obama and Trump come and go. I learnt to never take a pollie particularly seriously. If they do well, applaud them. If they do poorly, mock them. My ire was inspired by the amount of damage he’s inflicted on millions and millions of lives. My ire was inspired by the fact that he ensured that the hell he put others through would never apply to him. His actions cut very close, they impacted me very, very personally. I’ve had to suffer a year and a half of Americans as a result of his cupidity. The only country I’ve ever been at home in is the UK. The only country I integrated in was the UK. I lost that because of Johnson. I am not the only one he’s done that to.
I agree with you about Truss. She had the makings of a great PM, most of us were willing to give her a go. The problem is that she entered into office at a precarious moment, was not really prepared and did not expect the amount of poison and back-stabbing she would face. Ambition in politics comes with a price. I never liked Fishy Sunak, but I tried to give him a go. It did not take long for him to show how destructive he was. If Truss and Johnson made bad decisions, if they did things that cost them dearly, Sunak is doing the same, but even more so. Look at Jeremy Berkshire’s face. His eyes look utterly deranged.