AIBU to not understand how any MPs can support Boris Johnson

[toomanyleavesonthattree]

I mean he's awful. He achieved nothing of note as Mayor of London, was utterly rubbish as foreign secretary - including ensuring that British Iranian woman wasn't released by utterly failing to understand his briefing. He can't grasp or is uninterested in detail, but also has an absence of big strategic vision. And he actually seems pretty nasty.
All MPs must be able to see his original moniker of bumbling Boris has actually proved to be true when he was given proper grown ups jobs.
So why are they voting for a mess creator when the country is already in an almighty mess? If they vote for him, surely it will just confirm in people's minds even further that the Conservatives are totally incapable of governing?

I know people who have worked with him and they are all VERY afraid for the future

Yup. I have a friend who worked in the Foreign Office when Johnson was FSec, and he is horrified at the thought of Johnson becoming PM. He says he is the laziest, most incompetent, most self-absorbed MP he has ever worked with.

America did something very very stupid.

Boris Johnson is just Britain wading in saying “hold my pint”.

It’s international stupidity one-up-man-ship.

I’m applying to move to Mars

When Boris was Major of London he lost 6 major advisors in the first year. Virtually all the projects that were successful Boris could claim credit for were started by that antisemite Ken. Due to Ken being at the GLC and listening to his flunkies he knew how to raise more money with a small budget.

Boris actually lost Londoners money and failed to initiate sufficient social housing so we are still suffering today.

Boris was only elected because as Major you don't actually have that much power but you need to be easily recognisable to sell London.

I'm in the "anyone but Boris" camp.

this assessment by the new statesman of ‘how bad a pm would he make?’ from 2015 makes interesting reading - especially his odious views about what percentage of the population has a low IQ. No wonder his press team are keeping him hidden away -

www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/01/trouble-boris-johnson-how-bad-would-it-really-be-if-man-became-prime-minister

They're supporting him to protect their own pockets. Apparently, MPs have been told their careers will be over if he wins and they haven't voted for him. And the actual supporters stand to make a lot out of a catastrophic Brexit/want the advantages of being a 'friend' of the PM without picking up any of the blame for the utter clusterfuck that ensues.

I don't think he takes imagined or actual slights with good grace.

I think most are supporting him as they think, possibly rightly, that he is the best chance of winning the next election.

Of course there is plenty of self-interest there, but I don't think we can underestimate the genuine fear with which many Tories view the prospect of a Labour Government led by Jeremy Corbyn.

Much as I dont particularly like Boris, i do take issue with people categorically belitting others choices. Last time I looked, this was still a free country with free elections. Sometimes I wish it wasnt and we wouldnt have this whole Brexit Bollocks to put up with but there we go, the marginal majority voted in favour. And if they hadn't , we wouldnt be going though this ridiculous charade now.

Yes but 120,000 people choosing the PM isn’t really a free election.

I really don’t understand why more British people didn’t join the Conservatives last year just to get a say in this. It was obvious that they were very likely to be choosing a new leader at some stage.

He’s electable. People buy what he’s selling, even though it’s bullshit and he doesn’t believe in it himself. Remember the Brexit bus? With the claim about the NHS? Boris helped sell that. The garden bridge?www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-47228698 Boris again. When people are so credulous they end up with a snake oil salesman as a leader - it happened in the US with Trump.

Here's a story from Jeremy Vine that illustrates why Boris Johnson should never be Prime Minister and also shows why some people vote for him.

about Boris Johnson

Remember the Brexit bus? With the claim about the NHS? i do and i think youll find the promise has been honored www.itv.com/news/2018-06-16/nhs-to-get-extra-384-million-per-week-after-brexit-government-says/ unlike remain claims of recession on a vote to leave and that we will respect the vote and how the leader would remain pm

Yes but 120,000 people choosing the PM isn’t really a free election. you seem confused 13.6 million people voted for the conservatives uder are system the party gets to choose its leader and if that party holds a majority they are pm

Jeremy Hunt caused the first doctors' strike ever. Corbyn would wipe the floor with him.

If it was Rees-Mogg, all Labour would have to do would be put a picture of him in his top hat on their adverts and they'd walk it.

Michael Gove looks like a slug.

The Tories don't have any choice other than Johnson.

I think that most of them know he's a dangerous, incompetent tosspot but they figure that they future of the party at large is in jeopardy. Ergo - him being one of the staunchest supporters of leave would have to deliver Brexit. The issues will arise as soon as he finds himself tangled up in the same mess Theresa May found herself in. The EU has repeatedly said that the there's not going to be a fresh round of new negotiations.

Not trying to be funny or clever here, genuine comment - since when has being shit with a shit track record in politics stopped anyone from getting to be the PM?

Not sure if Boris will make a good leader can't do much worse than May though. At least he doesnt use the term "proles" which shows a disgusting contempt for the working class and their opinions.

They think he's electable. I'm not 100 per cent convinced they're right (notwithstanding the one poll that the Telegraph was waving around). Anecdotally, I don't know a single regular Conservative voter who doesn't hate his guts. My colleagues are mostly ardent Tory voters who think that David Cameron was a Shakespearean tragic hero, May was a noble woman who loved her country and The Times has no political bias at all. They also think that Johnson is a bloody buffoon. My mother is a lifelong Tory voter who wouldn't have the Daily Express in the house when we were kids because she thought it was "too left wing" . She voted Labour at the last general election because she was worried that voting May would mean getting Johnson. I've met one person in real life who liked him (because she thought he was "funny" ) and she's someone who won't vote on principle because politics is boring.

God knows I've been wrong before (I never thought people would be quite daft enough to elect Trump), but Johnson strikes me as out-of-touch people's idea of what the ordinary man on the street will love.

From your link

‘It is expected that taxes and borrowing will rise to pay for the increase in funding’

And

‘to give the NHS the funding it needs for the future, this Brexit dividend will not be enough.’

BJ has spent his life playing to the gallery to deflect attention from his notable laziness and inattention to detail. He has now perfected his act as a jolly good chap nevertheless and we will soon be handing over the keys to the country as he gets a new toy. Lucky us.

@Isitfridayalready but it’s not regular Conservative voters electing him. It’s the diehard members who love Johnson, have an average age of 72 and are 90% white, 70% male.

Not sure if Boris will make a good leader can't do much worse than May though. At least he doesnt use the term "proles" which shows a disgusting contempt for the working class and their opinions

@Singletomingle no he just uses the phrases ‘picaninnies with watermelon smiles’ and ‘bum boys’.....

And describes Muslim women as letterboxes.

Me too Poulshot.

I'm not condoning anything hes said but once you head down the road of saying who is and isnt suitable to lead the country based on a few comments or actions there's going to be a very small pool of people to choose from. You can almost certainly rule out any current or past MP.

@singletomingle who else has made openly racist and/ or homophobic comments that’s a hard hitting politician in the Conservative party?

It’s also not ‘a few comments or actions’ it’s repeated disgusting comments and actions over his entire political career. Please don’t defend the indefensible