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Original poster

Anyone met Boris Johnson?

130 replies

PraiseBee · 20/04/2022 10:12

What was he like? Was he charismatic/very charming? I feel like very few people would still be ploughing on in his situation and that there must be a certain quality he possesses (other than the fact he had no shame).

OP posts:
Sofasogood1 · 21/04/2022 22:59

Yes a few times. Always friendly, says hello, shakes your hand etc no matter who you are or how far down the food chain.

Turned up at stuff straight off the tube (as mayor of London, bit harder to do that as his security increased). Threw his backpack down, ran hand through hair and got on with stuff.

From what I could see spent time in constituency and did his MP surgeries.

Can see why people like him - very unlike other much more junior politicians who were unfriendly and up themselves in comparison. Never came across as if he thought he was better than you (even if he secretly did). Mingled with people.

QueenOfDuisburg · 21/04/2022 23:00

Yes, in New York in 2014. Unfortunately he was very nice.

GellerYeller · 21/04/2022 23:05

FIL met him at a work event a few years ago and found him 'surprisingly a bit of a laugh '.
I happened on him by unhappy accident during his referendum campaigning. As we were in business dress he came over to say hello, thinking we were part of his team. I found all his interactions to be hammy, like a performance. I'm not sure even he believed what he was saying.

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BitOutOfPractice · 21/04/2022 23:09

Qwill · 20/04/2022 12:35

Yep, he used to live near me and would go to our local. He was loud and would shout out the pub quiz answers (despite not actually taking part in the quiz). Unforgivable in my book!!

Jesus. The man really is lower than a worm. And I’m not even joking. That’s beyond reprehensible.

justasking111 · 21/04/2022 23:13

He has bad B O. oh that's something that makes me gag. I'll steer clear if I see him coming. Bleugh

Zonder · 21/04/2022 23:13

AnneKipankitoo · 21/04/2022 20:38

Not met him but someone I know went to an event where BJ was guest speaker .
He arrived late , bumbling, very funny…
The same person went to another event, BJ guest speaker , exactly the same performance.

Was it Jeremy Vine? He tells this exact story about Johnson.

mumsiedarlingrevolta · 21/04/2022 23:18

I met him.

He was campaigning for Mayor of London.

Very outing as I have told everyone I know this story but I was volunteering and he absolutely lied to my face-very petty and unnecessary lie and it really showed me who he was!

RollaCola84 · 21/04/2022 23:20

Yes, at university. He was charismatic, engaging and funny, so I can still see how he manages to take some people along with him despite the trail of lies and chaos that follows him.

I also saw him engage his Boris persona between talking to organisers (including me) before the event and then going on to speak culminating with mussing up his hair before he walked through the door. This was 20 years ago when the hair messing wasn't partly aimed at covering thinning hair !

HHa · 21/04/2022 23:23

donkey86 · 20/04/2022 11:16

Yes, at work when he was Mayor of London. I was in my early twenties at the time. The first time was very brief but the second time we had a longer conversation and he remembered my name, which really flattered me. It’s strange, because he’s no looker, but he was so charming I was smitten. I’ve never met anyone with such strong charisma. Tbh I’d have done anything he wanted! It’s embarrassing to admit that but he just had this way of acting like I mattered, which was novel for me as a junior aide used to being ignored by cabinet ministers etc.

Eww, that makes me feel a bit queasy.

Agapornis · 21/04/2022 23:23

@kaleidoscope123 did you work on the garden bridge? An ex did consultancy on that, Johnson told them to "make it work" - implying to bribe people.

Nat6999 · 21/04/2022 23:32

It's not on my bucket list, but if it was legal to throw a bucket of something nasty at him I would love to do that.

Blinky21 · 21/04/2022 23:35

Yes, through work a couple of times and then randomly bumped into him on a train where he mumbled good morning to me and then started at the floor

Blinky21 · 21/04/2022 23:36

Sorry stared at the floor!

Sofasogood1 · 21/04/2022 23:47

@Agapornis

@kaleidoscope123 did you work on the garden bridge? An ex did consultancy on that, Johnson told them to "make it work" - implying to bribe people.
Does 'make it work' imply that? Not sure that's fair. It's been said to me on a number of occasions and usually it just means 'stop bothering me with your problems, find the solutions and just make it fucking work'.
BlubFestival · 21/04/2022 23:58

The charm so many are describing sounds like the beginning of every abusive relationship. Half the country has been live bombed while the other half looks on in horror...

Fantail · 22/04/2022 02:22

Not him, but his sister and also worked with one of his mistresses.

I’ve heard reports from people who I regard highly that he’s completely charming.

Chanel05 · 22/04/2022 06:03

My dh has met him multiple times for work - at no 10 but also out and about. He commented each time that people fall over themselves around him because he will pose for selfies. Very charismatic and very charming.

CarryonCovid · 22/04/2022 06:29

I was going to post the Jeremy Vine story. We used to see him out and about in North London.

MintyMoocow · 22/04/2022 06:32

He strikes me as an egoist and a would-be dictator.
Like Putin in a wig!
Thank heaven for our democracy, flawed though it definitely is!

TCMolly · 22/04/2022 06:33

Yes through work when he was FC, he is exactly the same as on TV, bumbly and affable.

Unescorted · 22/04/2022 06:58

I lived next to the Spectator offices - he swore at us & threatened us with lawyers for using our back yard. Apparently it cramped his style. Nasty narcist. I guess we got Toddler Boris.

AnneKipankitoo · 22/04/2022 08:47

Zonder · 21/04/2022 23:13

Was it Jeremy Vine? He tells this exact story about Johnson.

Show quote history

No . It was not Jeremy Vine.

AnneKipankitoo · 22/04/2022 08:48

I’m not Jeremy Vine either btw… just in case that’s your next question 🤣

newnamethanks · 22/04/2022 09:46

He visited a school where a friend teaches. The Head asked if she would very kindly take that day off as she could foresee a meeting between the two would not go well. She values her job, so she did.

newnamethanks · 22/04/2022 09:57

When touting for Brexit or GE, I forget which, I'm happy to say that his presence on our High Street was so unfavourably received that he was obliged to seek refuge in a local hotel. Or so it was reported at the time, hopefully that's true. I really wouldn't recommend he re-visits. Tories previous 20,000+ majority was subsequently reduced to less than 1,000 and continues to dwindle.