Westminster Politics

If he's such a great leader what has he actually achieved in his briefs in government?

He got a British-Iranian lady locked up because he doesn't know what the feck is going to come out of his mouth at any given time. I guess that's considered a positive to those who vote for him.
 
I'm in the Boris camp. Forget his policies which will be little different to anything the others come up with, after years of the likes of Brown, Cameron, Miliband and May more than anything we need someone with some character. In British history the greatest leaders have been the ones with the force of personality to get things done, Churchill, Thatcher, George, Attlee and so on. Boris might act the buffoon but he'll get people talking about politics again instead of the current malaise and negativity whenever the topic comes up. Corbyn would have been a step in the right direction if he wasn't completely unelectable and surrounded by incompetents.

This is the perfect example of why democracy doesn't work.

People don't care about the real world consequences as long as they are entertained.

It's not a reality TV show its your country and your life you buffoon.
 
I have heard some people suggest there's a tinge of misogyny is the stick she gets. Maybe it's true but she's especially daft.
Yeah maybe although she is a tory so who gives a shit.

Also McVey like Boris will just say anything to get the tory membership votes.
 
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This is the perfect example of why democracy doesn't work.

People don't care about the real world consequences as long as they are entertained.

It's not a reality TV show its your country and your life you buffoon.

He's expressed an opinion is all.

Tell me this. Who do you think out of 650 MP's would be fit to run this country? Tell you what lets widen it out. Which politician past or present anywhere on the planet would be the best person to run 2019 UK? Still wider - include non- politicians. Name anyone and there'll be someone to kick lumps out him or her.

I'm not a Boris fan at all but I do agree that the quality most lacking in UK politics at present is leadership. Clearly he has more of that rub than the others. He's probably set for a landslide in this election and if he then can get Brexit over the line I think he will almost immediately call a GE and more than likely win a serious majority.
 
He's expressed an opinion is all.

Tell me this. Who do you think out of 650 MP's would be fit to run this country? Tell you what lets widen it out. Which politician past or present anywhere on the planet would be the best person to run 2019 UK? Still wider - include non- politicians. Name anyone and there'll be someone to kick lumps out him or her.

I'm not a Boris fan at all but I do agree that the quality most lacking in UK politics at present is leadership. Clearly he has more of that rub than the others. He's probably set for a landslide in this election and if he then can get Brexit over the line I think he will almost immediately call a GE and more than likely win a serious majority.

What has Boris Johnson done to suggest that he is a good leader? It's one of these narratives that occasionally gets peddled that I don't really understand. Is it because he's a man and he's outspoken?
 
What has Boris Johnson done to suggest that he is a good leader? It's one of these narratives that occasionally gets peddled that I don't really understand. Is it because he's a man and he's outspoken?
Nothing much I agree. I wrestle with it because as I said I'm no fan. But he does appeal to a lot of the electorate and I would include voters from other parties in that. Somebody said that he's a chairman and not a CEO. A figurehead that will leave most of the details to the civil service. He was a rubbish Foreign Secretary but that's almost certainly because it wasn't the job he wanted. Maybe if he get the top job he might step up to the plate. One things for sure though, like Thatcher he'll be majorly divisive.
 
Why did he chicken out after Cameron left?
Gove chucked his hat in the ring which would have split his vote. I don't know what advice he got that led him to pull out. In hindsight it looks like a wise move because he's probably going to romp it now with Teresa May having taken all the body blows. I feel a little sorry for her because I reckon Parliament will eventually vote for some version of her deal.
 
For what it's worth Boris was a terrible mayor as well and a lot of his projects were unfinished or and left a bill to the taxpayer. And the London Mayor job is a bit of a redundant role as well and more of a figurehead.
 
For what it's worth Boris was a terrible mayor as well and a lot of his projects were unfinished or and left a bill to the taxpayer. And the London Mayor job is a bit of a redundant role as well and more of a figurehead.

Wait, you mean buying a load of water cannons you can't use and trying to build a pointless bridge across the Thames in order to give your mates money isn't the sign of being a good mayor?
 
For what it's worth Boris was a terrible mayor as well and a lot of his projects were unfinished or and left a bill to the taxpayer. And the London Mayor job is a bit of a redundant role as well and more of a figurehead.
I know. Wasted millions on hair-brained schemes. Claims the credit for the Olympics ffs.

I think what he lacks in competency he makes up for in charm. He makes mistakes by the score but acts like a naughty schoolboy - and he can be very self-depreciating. Rightly or wrongly, lots of people gravitate to those things. Maybe they identify with his fallibility.
 
I know. Wasted millions on hair-brained schemes. Claims the credit for the Olympics ffs.

I think what he lacks in competency he makes up for in charm. He makes mistakes by the score but acts like a naughty schoolboy - and he can be very self-depreciating. Rightly or wrongly, lots of people gravitate to those things. Maybe they identify with his fallibility.

Your point about the Olympics is certainly valid. All of the work was done prior to him becoming Mayor.
To the list we can add the Boris Bendy Buses.
And that is my biggest fear. He has a terrible habit of flitting from one bad idea to another.
One attribute that a true Leader should have is concentration, hard work and the ability to deliver.
Not something you can say about the blonde bombahell.
 
Gove chucked his hat in the ring which would have split his vote. I don't know what advice he got that led him to pull out. In hindsight it looks like a wise move because he's probably going to romp it now with Teresa May having taken all the body blows. I feel a little sorry for her because I reckon Parliament will eventually vote for some version of her deal.

Now he had May and lack of time as excuses when this goes south. He was just covering his bases rather than tackle the problem.
 
Your point about the Olympics is certainly valid. All of the work was done prior to him becoming Mayor.
To the list we can add the Boris Bendy Buses.
And that is my biggest fear. He has a terrible habit of flitting from one bad idea to another.
One attribute that a true Leader should have is concentration, hard work and the ability to deliver.
Not something you can say about the blonde bombahell.
Not so sure about those qualities for a leader. Maybe a manager. Teresa May had them in droves, just couldn't deliver.
 
Not so sure about those qualities for a leader. Maybe a manager. Teresa May had them in droves, just couldn't deliver.

I did mention the ability to deliver.
The reason I mention concentration is that the PM would be faced with many many new problems every day. They would need to be able to understand and prioritise each.
A strong work ethnic is also vital especially during the Brexit phase when leadership would consume so much effort.
 
I did mention the ability to deliver.
The reason I mention concentration is that the PM would be faced with many many new problems every day. They would need to be able to understand and prioritise each.
A strong work ethnic is also vital especially during the Brexit phase when leadership would consume so much effort.
They are managers' qualities or civil servants. Not necessarily those of a leader. It could be argued that leaders should be strategists and set the broad direction of things. The detail should be sorted by their staff with the leader having final oversight. The fact that Boris doesn't do detail and would prefer to paint very broad strokes probably makes him more of a leader than Teresa May. When Boris tries to do detail it always backfires - Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe case in point.
 
I will never understand the narrative that is being peddled about Boris having these much sought after leadership skills. He is yet to exhibit anything close to leadership. Even now he is doing his best to stay out of the public eye and scrutiny in case he says something that ruins it all. He is no leader.
 
This is the perfect example of why democracy doesn't work.

People don't care about the real world consequences as long as they are entertained.

It's not a reality TV show its your country and your life you buffoon.

Democracy doesn't work because it produces a result you don't agree with. Yeah, ok :lol:

It's modern politics isn't it. Arrogant prats telling everyone they're idiots for holding a different opinion to them. Everyone's an expert in 2019, despite people who know considerably more about politics than you or I voting for him by a massive margin.
 
This is the perfect example of why democracy doesn't work.

People don't care about the real world consequences as long as they are entertained.

It's not a reality TV show its your country and your life you buffoon.
You would rather have a dictator, hereditary monarch or religious loon making our laws perhaps?

Yeah, democracy occasionally gives us a Trump, a Brexit or a Boris, but I'll take any of those rather than lose my right to vote, and importantly, everybody else's right to vote as well.
 
I fail to see what's democratic about a tiny proportion of the population electing the PM.

Boris as PM, Raab as Chancellor and Farage as Foreign Secretary would be a hilarious spectacle from outside the UK. They can be responsible for the mess they've created.
 
I fail to see what's democratic about a tiny proportion of the population electing the PM.

Boris as PM, Raab as Chancellor and Farage as Foreign Secretary would be a hilarious spectacle from outside the UK. They can be responsible for the mess they've created.
It's shite but the new PM will still have to command a majority in the house or there will be a general election, and even if they do have the support of current MPs then there will still be an election on the scheduled date at the latest, with the whole country voting, so yes, the appointment will still be part of a democratic system.

Now if people think there should be an immediate general election whenever a prime minister is deposed by their own party, dies or whatever, then the answer is simple, campaign for that, get it in your party's manifesto, get it voted on and make it so.
 
Democracy doesn't work because it produces a result you don't agree with. Yeah, ok :lol:

It's modern politics isn't it. Arrogant prats telling everyone they're idiots for holding a different opinion to them. Everyone's an expert in 2019, despite people who know considerably more about politics than you or I voting for him by a massive margin.
The issue is you don't have a opinion. You are simply liking a politician because they are a ''character''(Whatever that means) which is no different than someone liking a politician for the colour of their tie.
 
You would rather have a dictator, hereditary monarch or religious loon making our laws perhaps?

Yeah, democracy occasionally gives us a Trump, a Brexit or a Boris, but I'll take any of those rather than lose my right to vote, and importantly, everybody else's right to vote as well.

Just because one thing doesn't work doesn't mean that the other does so it doesn't have to be either or. It could be just like the Irish border issue something completely new and inexistent.

Democracy in my opinion doesn't work because people are largely extremely ignorant on the issues that they are being asked to vote for.
 
This is the perfect example of why democracy doesn't work.

People don't care about the real world consequences as long as they are entertained.

It's not a reality TV show its your country and your life you buffoon.

It's not that democracy doesn't work, it's that people place it on far too high a pedestal.

Democracy is merely the icing on the cake for a society, it's not the cake itself. The latter is made up of customs, traditions and culture and then the rule of law; all of which are much more important that democracy.

The inherent flaw in democracy itself is that it sets groups of people (politicians) against each other, who then continually overpromise to the electorate in order to get votes. The cumulative effect of such 'bribery' is to plunge countries into ever increasing debt.
 
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Just because one thing doesn't work doesn't mean that the other does so it doesn't have to be either or. It could be just like the Irish border issue something completely new and inexistent.

Democracy in my opinion doesn't work because people are largely extremely ignorant on the issues that they are being asked to vote for.
What definitely doesn't work is saying nothing works. If you've a better idea than democracy then say what it is, maybe we could vote on it.
 
The issue is you don't have a opinion. You are simply liking a politician because they are a ''character''(Whatever that means) which is no different than someone liking a politician for the colour of their tie.

How do you know why I like him? I said he has character which has been severely lacking from British politics since Blair stepped down. I don't feel strongly about him either way but obviously people who count like him, hence the massive first round victory.

Plus I lived in London when he was Mayor, it was a damn sight better than it was under Ken Livingstone.
 
How do you know why I like him? I said he has character which has been severely lacking from British politics since Blair stepped down. I don't feel strongly about him either way but obviously people who count like him, hence the massive first round victory.

Plus I lived in London when he was Mayor, it was a damn sight better than it was under Ken Livingstone.
That's interesting, as if you live outside the south-east you don't really hear much about their local politics, although that will come as a surprise to many down there I suspect. So, what did Boris do that improved things for you?
 
How do you know why I like him?
Forget his policies which will be little different to anything the others come up with, after years of the likes of Brown, Cameron, Miliband and May more than anything we need someone with some character.
Er.


I said he has character which has been severely lacking from British politics since Blair stepped down.

Brown and Cameron where pretty much different versions of Blair. Also what do you mean by someone with some character ?

Plus I lived in London when he was Mayor, it was a damn sight better than it was under Ken Livingstone.
How did Boris improve London ?
 
What a self-publicist:

'Boris bikes'
'Boris buses'
'Boris Bridge'
 
Nothing much I agree. I wrestle with it because as I said I'm no fan. But he does appeal to a lot of the electorate and I would include voters from other parties in that. Somebody said that he's a chairman and not a CEO. A figurehead that will leave most of the details to the civil service. He was a rubbish Foreign Secretary but that's almost certainly because it wasn't the job he wanted. Maybe if he get the top job he might step up to the plate. One things for sure though, like Thatcher he'll be majorly divisive.

Agreed, its a bit like playing Lukaku upfront as an hold up man, when really he is a ball over the top/channel runner type player. Bearing down on the EU goal with the ball at his feet, Boris will be a sight to behold!!
 
Agreed, its a bit like playing Lukaku upfront as an hold up man, when really he is a ball over the top/channel runner type player. Bearing down on the EU goal with the ball at his feet, Boris will be a sight to behold!!
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That's interesting, as if you live outside the south-east you don't really hear much about their local politics, although that will come as a surprise to many down there I suspect. So, what did Boris do that improved things for you?

Some of Boris's better acts were supporting the city and getting the economy back on track, reducing crime, and the transport system is night and day from what it was when he took over. He was admittedly helped by Livingstone before him making it harder and more expensive to live in central London than ever before.


Brown and Cameron where pretty much different versions of Blair. Also what do you mean by someone with some character ?

Charisma. Anybody in power has to be competent but that's no use on its own.

Don't let Blair's war record and latter years distract from the breath of fresh air he was in 1997.