For a reason that passes this reviewer's understanding Boris Johnson was last month re-elected as the Mayor of London. So far as I can see, Johnson has shown absolutely no competence or political substance to warrant him holding any political office whatsoever. His sole qualification seems to be to play the role of a bumptious and bumbling toff who is capable, on occasion, of amusing TV audiences. In this irreverent biography Sonia Purnell, a former journalist colleague of Johnson's, pretty much agrees with that assessment.
Purnell traces Johnson's early childhood and young adulthood through Brussels, Eton, and Oxford University where he was to become President of Oxford Union. It is, as the sojourns at Eton and Oxford suggest, the story of the privileged upbringing and an ingrained sense of entitlement which is alien to the vast majority of Britons (mainly because the doors opened by their status to Johnson et al are never opened for us). It is precisely these type of connections that enabled Johnson to become a major journalist (in reality he is more of an essayist) for the Spectator, where working from Brussels he set forth a flood of Eurosceptic pieces that energised the political right of the Conservative Party and, arguably, hastened the rise of New Labour at the UK polls.
However, it was not the 'secret handshake' of the establishment that catapulted Johnson to the political limelight (I refuse to refer to him by his first name!) but Have I Got News for You (HIGNFY), a weekly satirical television program and other associated 'borisisms'.
It is on HIGNFY that Johnson inhabited two British staples: the lovable rogue and the village idiot. To this writer's amazement it is a dual-identity that he has managed to uphold even after four years in power, and it is one that has served him well.
It is this mastery of his audience that has led Johnson to his second term as London Mayor and his position as a frontrunner as the next Conservative Party leader and, possibly, Prime Minister of the UK.
Article comments
1 - Andrew Denny
What a juvenile & unperceptive piece. I hesitate to call it a 'review'. It tells us little or nothing about the book, or indeed about its subject. It only tells us about the state of the reviewer's biases & bigotries.
2 - barry
Shows what having a1st in a useless subject does for you. Childish ill informed and badly written. I would never recommend this blogger to anyone in fact quite the reverse. The reviewer is self absorbed, narrow in their critique and should be thoroughly ashamed for writing such a 3rd rate reveiw.
3 - Casper
Glad I helped you get that off your chest Barry! Feel better?
4 - Dr Dreadful
If Boris is going to be the next Conservative prime minister he's got to get himself elected to Parliament first. Getting ahead of ourselves a bit here, aren't we?
5 - Casper
I don't think he will btw.
There's no technical reason why they can't both happen at the same time (or even as a Lord but I don't know when that last happened and is v. v. unlikely) but if it were to happen it won't be for a while - Cameron will lead to the next election which, if they lose, could be Boris' chance. He will have no problem finding a seat if he wants one (as he has in the past) but he is getting far more exposure now than he would as a backbencher so the Mayorship suits him.