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Totally failing to quote a tweet but, this struck home;
"Absolutely incredible line on LBC from a caller.
“The prospect of a new conservative PM is like seeing a menu of diseases and having your dad order for you”"
I said exactly the same to my mate yesterday.
I said within the year!
Sorry if this has already been suggested, but is he just trying to drag it out to reach a pension entitlement or something like that now?
I recall reading that his personal finances were a disaster.
Because by all accounts Carrie Johnson was the puppeteer behind the scenes pulling the strings that Boris Johnson dangled from.
By some accounts. Not that many though.
BillMC Full Member
I’m not celebrating as I can’t see any improvements on the horizon. Snouts playing musical chairs.
I'm not celebrating either. Although I wish I believed that it just represented a game of musical chairs.
However far from it representing no change I believe that it will almost certainly represent significant change.
IMO the biggest obstacle which has currently stopped the Tories adopting austerity, a policy very much at the heart of Tory philosophy, has been Johnson. It simply didn't suit his affable loved-by-the-people personality.
I think Sunak made that clear in his resignation letter. Whether it's Sunak or somebody else who takes over from Johnson they will in all likelihood be right hard ****s.
Johnson has constantly battled the right of the Tory Party, whether it was over taxation/ spending or lockdown restrictions and "covid socialism" as they called it, but never with the left of the party.
Whoever takes over from Johnson it is extremely unlikely that they will be more left-wing than him and extremely probably that they will be significantly more right-wing..
No one knows for sure what the outcome will be but as someone who is considerably to the left of the Tories, and based on probability, I'm not celebrating.
Because whilst making Pincher deputy chief whip was very clearly wrong on so many levels it did not have a significant affect on the lives of ordinary working people. The austerity which we have every reason to believe is likely to come post-johnson will very much so.
Less talk of dangling, please. All sorts of images come to mind.
I think Sunak made that clear in his resignation letter.
It was just a repeat of his plea for the next election, the same one as he's been making in government... "low-tax, high growth"... while delivering the opposite. Always an obvious pre-election tax cut planned. His mentioned their disagreement, but not what it was... most accounts suggest it was about the timing of cuts (both tax cuts and spending cuts) with Johnson wanting them sooner rather than later, to bolster his own support with Conservatives, and Sunak wanting to save them for closer to an election, to bolster the party's support in that election and wait 'till after what is expected to be a very hard 12 months ahead for so many voters.
but never with the left of the party
Errr... he ousted most of them at the last election. They had to sign personal pledges or ____ off. He had the whip removed, had them deselected, and ended their political careers.
Barnier indulging in some top trolling:
https://twitter.com/MichelBarnier/status/1545015642176233472
I’m scared that there are so many people out there who think he was doing a good job and are disappointed that he’s leaving.
Still seeing plenty of support for him on Linkdin....
(Makes mental note not to do business with such individuals) 😉
Should there be an STW Boris Johnson divorce sweepstake?
It's the children I feel sorry for, all 6, 7 or is it 8 of them?
BoJo is no longer PM.
You sure?
Still seeing plenty of support for him on Linkdin….
(Makes mental note not to do business with such individuals)
Got to question the acumen of anyone using LinkedIn to post about politics, regardless of their leaning.
Can we do "Brelcome Back" or "Brejoin" now everyone realises it was all just part of one big mistake?
Why are so many other mp's willing to throw their hats into the ring for pm?
" oh look, a poison chalice. Put my name on it please"
Recession, WW3 by proxy, Brexit, Covid, NHS, Fuel prices causing double digit inflation, illegal immigration, devo2, climate change plus public sector borrowing.
1 or 2 would be a headache but dealing with that lot plus all the day to day gumpf. Hell yes, sign me up baby.
They are all clowns (all politicians)!
Note, pretty much every person you'll hear say this, vote for right-wing parties.
No, not all politicians are the same, but the dodgy ones you lot vote for are.
Not celebrating either. I think that's a fair summary ernie.
It's a battle between the nationalist nut-jobs and the competent grown ups. More culture wars or austerity 2.0.
Got to question the acumen of anyone using LinkedIn to post about politics, regardless of their leaning.
You haven't been on LinkedIn much recently. It's basically Facebook now.
It seems to be the go to place to announce the death of relative, regardless if that has any business related purpose
10 months then
You haven’t been on LinkedIn much recently. It’s basically Facebook now.
I use it regularly for job searching and running the work social media.
My feed's still full of self-promoting guff as per usual.
Edit - If I were still writing careers content, I'd be doing a feature about knowing when it's time to move on from a job and promoting the heck out of it on LI.
Im loving the desperatehard hard right trying to paint this a a 'remainer coup'
he was taken down by the likes of Gove, Zahawi, Sunak, Baker, Bridgen, Gullis!...
they know brexit is all theyve got to keep their loopy base on side, otherwise theyll drift back to farage or some other populist gobshite
Arghh! The number of times the presenter on BBC news has abruptly (and rudely) stopped an interview with someone, to shout stupid ****ing questions at people approaching the door of no.10 🤬
My feed’s still full of self-promoting guff as per usual.
Think that pretty much sums it up .
They don’t like it when you point out they are not as great as they like to think though 😉😂
By some accounts. Not that many though.
Seems to be mostly used by people who acknowledged he is a useless waste of space but trying to excuse their previous support for him by blaming a woman for dragging him down.
About the only truth to it seems to be his ex wife Marina was pretty good at keeping the idiot somewhat under control and without that he fell to bits. However it is still him to blame.
Do not try and shift blame for Johnson on his string of partners… he used his position(s) to funnel money to them. He has been the one taking positions of public office and abusing those positions.
Anyway, both Raab and Gove avoiding a leadership battle it seems (not surprising in either case). Two possible caretaker PMs there (I’m thinking acceptable to Conservative MPs, not me).
Isn't saying you're not running the traditional way of declaring you're running?
Imo May is the best bet for interim PM
After excoriating The Convict yesterday at the Liaison Committee, Sir Bernard Jenkin has ruled himself out of the leadership contest. He was good on R4 WATO today. the Select Committees seem to be the last and most effective means of holding govt to some form of account. Yesterday was a road crash in slow motion.
Imo May is the best bet for interim PM
She's very duty-driven. I don't agree with her policies, but never doubted her probity. What a delicious ending that would be.
I agree that it should be her, for the same reasons... but it won't be. It needs to be someone the Brexit at all cost MPs will support to avoid battles over what they do in office while the leadership selection process plays out.
Isn’t saying you’re not running the traditional way of declaring you’re running?
Gove must be smart enough to know he wouldn't win - as stated above he's very talented but polling booth Kryptonite. Raab might fancy his chances but doesn't have the charisma or momentum to win.
Yeah, both might still have a pop at it, but it'll probably be quicker to list the Tory MPs who aren't considering it at the mo.
Yes, Gove might be a good shout for an interim PM, in purely pragmatic terms.
At the time May took over, I did not doubt she was a terrible PM, even more so that Brown. This latest episode has truly re-defined that word for me.
Oddly, I think that she would be a generally decent person to act as a temporary PM until a new one can be found and I say that without irony (given that she is a Conservative).
I don't think Raab has been after it for a while now. When Johnson was AWOL due to Covid you could see the weight on him... he didn't look like he enjoyed it or was comfortable with it.
May would be ideal, given the pool available... but you're not thinking like the 2019 intake of Conservative MPs.
Raab just doesn't want to have to run the risk of anyone looking too closely and nding the bodies he's hidden in the walls, Fred West style
Yes, I rather like BoJo to stay
I'm with chewkw on this - to maximise damage to the Tory party.
My world view is against sanctions which affect fuel and world grain
You're also happy for Putin to trample over `Ukraine.
but you’re not thinking like the 2019 intake of Conservative MPs.
The whole lot will be looking at constituencies more concerned with the cost of a litre of fuel or a tin of beans than much else.
Whoever is picked needs to figure out how to fix that in a way that doesn't involve laying off lots of people who, in 2019, actually voted blue so suddenly have value.
Even the Brexit loons are more concerned about their pensions and house prices than Brussels.
To coin a phrase "its the economy stupid" only unlike Brexit today its a lot less abstract than 2016&19
May would be ideal, given the pool available… but you’re not thinking like the 2019 intake of Conservative MPs.
I see the obvious intention there ... slowly slowly catchy monkey. EU here we come again ... round two! LOL!
In a twisted way, Johnson is one of the most honest politicians around.
https://twitter.com/PhillipsPOBrien/status/1545021626391166976
Don't worry, Lizz Truss is running for PM!
God I hate Twitter.
I’m not celebrating either. Although I wish I believed that it just represented a game of musical chairs.
However far from it representing no change I believe that it will almost certainly represent significant change.
IMO the biggest obstacle which has currently stopped the Tories adopting austerity, a policy very much at the heart of Tory philosophy, has been Johnson. It simply didn’t suit his affable loved-by-the-people personality.
I think Sunak made that clear in his resignation letter. Whether it’s Sunak or somebody else who takes over from Johnson they will in all likelihood be right hard ****.
Johnson has constantly battled the right of the Tory Party, whether it was over taxation/ spending or lockdown restrictions and “covid socialism” as they called it, but never with the left of the party.
Whoever takes over from Johnson it is extremely unlikely that they will be more left-wing than him and extremely probably that they will be significantly more right-wing..
No one knows for sure what the outcome will be but as someone who is considerably to the left of the Tories, and based on probability, I’m not celebrating.
Because whilst making Pincher deputy chief whip was very clearly wrong on so many levels it did not have a significant affect on the lives of ordinary working people. The austerity which we have every reason to believe is likely to come post-johnson will very much so.
Absolutely this. I'll be sorry to see him go for mainly these reasons, as well as the entertainment factor. Scary to think who might replace him, although the idea of another Labour government is frankly terrifying.
I see the obvious intention there … slowly slowly catchy monkey. EU here we come again … round two! LOL!
itll take a while to repair the damge of Brexit
Johnson destroying himself is a good first step
Ive orderd my beers!
So I'm confused.
Has he officially resigned from being PM and leader of the Conservatives, one of these or none and all he has done is say that he will resign when a successor has been selected? If he's no longer PM he should be moving out and an interim PM should take over the duties required.
I fear he's going to try and find a way to style it all out and carry on as if nothing has changed all summer or even possibly find a way to nobble the selection process so that he's there right up until the next election and leave them no choice but to run with him!
I won't be celebrating until he's no longer in residence at No10 and is completely sidelined.
I'll get behind Penny Mordaunt - as slap downs go this was classic! 🙂
No idea how she votes or what she stands for though. But at least the hair-do will be better than Boris's!
Ive orderd my beers!
Fitting isn't it that brewdog are getting a bounce off what was in the first instance a sexual harassment and or assault?
Not just the denizens of Westminster that are hypocrites.
I expect the removal van has been booked.
😀
I just love it when the tories implode.
If he’s no longer PM he should be moving out and an interim PM should take over the duties required.
Traditionally the PM remains in place until the new leader and hence PM is selected.
This worked okay for the tories in the past since it was only a case of asking the MPs and hence it could be done and dusted pretty quickly.
However the rules were changed so first round was the MPs chosing two candidates which the general party then vote on which takes a lot longer (unless as per May the other candidate withdraws and so it doesnt go to the general party).
As with many British political ideas its built around the idea of a good and honest mp who will gracefully wait out the period.
Why are so many other mp’s willing to throw their hats into the ring for pm?
The main requirement for someone standing for that post is a massive ego. Plenty of them have one. Johnson only wanted the job to satisfy his, he was never actually interested in carrying out the duties of PM.
I'm not convinced that the next pm will be able to push more austerity, with the cost of living issues now that level of tolerance is gone and the ex-red wall mps would be bricking it should that happen. Tax rises i can see coming, or at least a substantial change in how tax works
Yep I get that Jamb but they've got to squeeze in a bit of feel-good factor before the next election because so much damage has been done to the brand. Usually pay rises are a bit higher towards the end of a period of office, that could happen sooner. With teachers, barristers, NHS workers, the RMT all squaring up plus inflation it would mean an implosion of the party to inflict austerity right now. I sincerely hope I'm right.
A couple of days ago someone on Twitter was discussing a rumour that Boris
a) had a hairdresser (!)
b) who was Canadian and
c) pregnant with a baby Boris back in Canada
Although as far as I could see, no evidence whatsoever was put forward for this, so quite frankly it could just be someone experimenting with how fast fictional rumours travel, workshopping a variety of stories...
To change the subject, May volunteers every year at the Maidenhead 10 on Good Friday, so to that extent at least she does have a genuine public service ethos. When Boris was Henley MP he opened the odd thing near where my OH works, but afaik you would never see him inconveniencing himself to stand on a corner in a hiviz tabard in the cold for hours on end.
It looks like there are plenty of Labour or opposition supporters getting very concerned with the resignation of Conservative BoJo as PM.
Are they really "concerned" or simply try to rub it in? LOL!
Why are so many other mp’s willing to throw their hats into the ring for pm?
Because the chances of getting a job after Westminster are pretty low unless you're one of the senior members of cabinet at some point.
Ex pm is pretty much a guaranteed lucrative private sector role afterwards if you want it.
Also if Boris could do it it really must be as easy as it was for Jim thacker
Why are so many other mp’s willing to throw their hats into the ring for pm?
Good question that. I can only guess that Power is a very desirable thing to have.
May volunteers every year at the Maidenhead 10 on Good Friday, so to that extent at least she does have a genuine public service ethos
You mean she has a check list?
You mean she has a check list?
So did stalin, I can see several of the candidates to replace bj will too.
I’m not convinced that the next pm will be able to push more austerity, with the cost of living issues now that level of tolerance is gone and the ex-red wall mps would be bricking it should that happen. Tax rises i can see coming, or at least a substantial change in how tax works
Thing is that's not what the Tory membership want, the opposite in fact, and any new leader needs to appeal to them !
Can we have another sweepstakes? How long he'll stay an MP. I suspect he'll sack it off soon, within a year.
Thing is that’s not what the Tory membership want,
What they want, more than anything, is to be in office. Everything else is secondary to a greater or lesser extent because even the most pig thick party member knows you get nothing in opposition
The people that get to decide who the next leader and PM is, are the paid up conservative party members, not the electorate.
The conservative party only has 200,000 members (vs labour 430,000).
Now imagine people who are so tory they pay to be a member of the party. These are the people choosing.
Of course they will have in mind they have to win the next election, but these people are not very representative and will choose someone in their image and who will pander to their wants.
as slap downs go this was classic!
Is that her defending the “VIP lane” for Covid Contracts set up specifically for contacts of Tory politicians, the details of which they tried to keep secret… still she finished with some empty puff about Britain, so she understands the tools of her trade.
You gotta love him
One last grift
https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1545045540244578304?t=7qChm94O351lw7fTxfDPMg&s=19
This will be the third time in five years that we will have a Prime Minister elected by a tiny proportion of the electorate.
Is that her defending the “VIP lane” for Covid Contracts set up specifically for contacts of Tory politicians, the details of which they tried to keep secret
That of tory mps and senior civil servants yup.
The same lane which was found to have significantly worse results than the normal open bidding process.
So only a great slap down if you take the oxford union approach to debates where facts are optional.
This will be the third time in five years that we will have a Prime Minister elected by a tiny proportion of the electorate.
Or, if you want to be honest about it, in the entire history of British democracy.
If the Tories are doing a leadership election in summer, but Boris is insisting on remaining PM until autumn, will that be the first time that the PM is different to the leader of an outright majority party?
Wonder what the next resident of 10 Downing Street will make of the gold wallpaper...
This will be the third time in five years that we will have a Prime Minister elected by a tiny proportion of the electorate.
The irony being that they've all been brought down by the one thing that was absolute Tory policy throughout all of this, Brexit.
Almost as though the whole thing is a catastrophically stupid idea that can never be made to work. 🤷🏻♂️
the idea of another Labour government is frankly terrifying
Interesting takeaway from all this.
will that be the first time that the PM is different to the leader of an outright majority party?
He is gone once the new leader is selected so doesnt matter what he insists on.
Timewise though its probably going to be a couple of months so going to be autumn time until the new one is chosen (unless they manage to skip the asking the party members by having one of the candidates drop out after passing round 1).
Wonder what the next resident of 10 Downing Street will make of the gold wallpaper
Think it is in No 11 so whoever takes over might be lucky and have a small family and hence be able to go for No 10 instead.
They do have the 30k allowance to remodel it though.
Scary to think who might replace him, although the idea of another Labour government is frankly terrifying.
We already did terrifying.
The irony being that they’ve all been brought down by the one thing that was absolute Tory policy throughout all of this, Brexit
What did I miss where in Brexit had anything to do with BJ being [slowly] ousted?
We must be following very different news because to me it looks like it's his insistence on lying to his colleagues so they can go out and face the unaware* they're lying for him that's gotten the better of him.
*obviously they'll have had reasons to think /know he's selling them a pile of poo but they'll also have expected him to be able to keep the truth hidden if he's going to lie about it.
I am delighted with the news and I’m going to treat myself to take away pizza tonight to celebrate.
To those who say yes but it’s still tories in power… I understand it’s still not ideal but Johnson was unique, the tories were seen as the party of bankers and managers by the working class (in modern terms the ‘red wall’) Boris’s one ability was to change that, he forged a personality cult around himself starting when he was mayor of London; this lovable rogue, a tory that actually wasn’t a tory, he wasn’t slick and official and professional like tories are typically perceived to be, his incompetence therefore made him only more appealing “oh he’s just like me, saying/doing the wrong thing sometimes” all this was like a spell over the British public, no matter what Boris did, how he shafted the nation the reply from the public was ‘oh Boris nevermind’
so today, today I am happy because the spell is broken, any one who will replace him will not have the same effect and will be looked at with suspicion and othering, once again the tories will be the nasty party and not the jolly japes party, the tories have always known this, why do you think they were so reluctant to let him go and saw him as a ‘winner’
This will be the third time in five years that we will have a Prime Minister elected by a tiny proportion of the electorate.
Or, if you want to be honest about it, in the entire history of British democracy.
How do you figure that?
What's properly terrifying is the state the country is likely to be in come the end of the year.
Whoever is in charge we will be seeing a winter of discontent. I can see the country grinding to a halt.
How do you figure that?
OK, if you're not a member of a party you didn't get to choose them.
If you're not in their constituency you didn't get to vote for them.
Ever has it been thus.
Even if it weren't
This will be the third time in five years that we will have a Prime Minister elected by a tiny proportion of the electorate.
A small proportion of the electorate vote, only a small proportion of the electorate vote for the winning party (I'd be interested to know when its ever been over 50% of all votes cast).
Best will in the world a staggering 75% turnout with 51% of all votes cast being for the winning party would be 35% of the electorate.
If you're happy with that short of maths Boris went to a GE and won, convincingly, so wasn't elected by a tiny proportion of the electorate.
May went to a GE and won, not convincingly, but on the basis I assume you mean the "tory party membership" by tiny proportion she wasn't elected by a tiny proportion of the electorate.
There were at least three in private meetings with Lebedev. He has admitted to one of the meetings when he was at FCO. Cummings is talking about a later one as PM that he hasn't admitted to (although there are photos of him on his way back on his own). Press scared to talk about these events... as they have no inside sources... so the focus on what he has admitted to is understandable. If Cummings has evidence... that'd be very useful come the review of Johnsons security clearance... the one that should result in him being kicked out of the privy council, parliament and prevent him getting a title.
Obviously great that he's going. But I do remember thinking that no one could be worse than May last time round.... I mean Braverman is going to stand - ugh.
Interesting to note that this entire timeline is Cameron's fault. If he hadn't botched the remain vote, then johnson wouldn't have got the profile, May would never have been PM, etc. For that reason, he's still the worse PM.
There were at least three in private meetings with Lebedev.
Including at least one weekend spent partying with him.
"How do you figure that?"
No figuring about it. It's a fact. Previously, elected MP's, who had a mandate gleaned from when they won their seats at a general election made the selection.
Now, with both main parties we have a system where party members get an influence in this process, a 'special' vote if you like. It is also the system that gave us Corbyn.
It is called the minority effect, whereby a small percentage get to have a disproportionate influence on an outcome.
This will be the third time in five years that we will have a Prime Minister elected by a tiny proportion of the electorate.
You don't vote for a prime minister.
You vote for an MP to represent you.
The party with the most MPs takes control. Their chosen leader becomes PM.
You have voted to put the party in power, not an individual they can change their leader and hence PM whenever they want.
This is not America, our PM does not have a personal mandate form the people despite what Boris will tell you. The party has the mandate not the person.
A couple of days ago someone on Twitter was discussing a rumour that Boris
a) had a hairdresser
Nope