To think Boris Johnson is actually a terrible public speaker.

[lemonsandlimes123]

Listening to his speech on the radio. It's very stilted lacks flow and certainly isn't soaring oratory.

Not natural sounding, not funny either.

Regardless of what you think of his poliitcs is there anyone who thinks he is a good speaker?

he’d have made a cracking tv historian

Only if you like your ‘history’ packaged in jingoistic myths about the Great British Empire.

Only if you think facts don't matter in a historian.

Which is why I qualified my statement saying TV Historian. Which to my tiny brain suggests less a skill of being pedantically accurate, and more a skill of (hopefully) engaging the viewer to want to learn more.

By contrast, Mary Beard is an excellent historian and TV historian. I believe.

When the Prime Minister refers to the Speaker of the House as being forced to eat a kangaroo testicle, we know all is lost, well I do anyway. It is just not what the leader of a country should say in public at all. I am so embarrassed by him.

But he got the greatest laugh of the day by saying that.

This is where we are folks.

Gaming google with wine-box buses would suggest that he was trying to bury the old NHS bus story. But he was on Radio 4 yesterday not only doubling down on the old NHS bus, but saying that a bigger bus would be needed for future EU contributions (he was totally ignoring the rebate in his figures though).

He also said that he really likes buses. Maybe he’s just genuinely got a shit hobby.

I bet some intern somewhere is hard at work tasked with knocking up this fleet of buses.

Perhaps he just can’t stay on the Cummings message so that he can’t help going off script and boasting about his proudest moment in front of that bus.

Dead Ringers do a good take on the inner boris.

Fair enough, @SerendipityJane. Though my mind is now filled with a rather alarming vision of Boris Johnson dressed, Lucy Worsley-style in a mob cap.

Just had a snippet on R4, applause was thin on the ground

He is great.

How is he great? He’s a racist and a liar. He treats women poorly. He won’t admit how many children he has.
He has lost vote after vote in Parliament. He lied to the Queen. He was too scared of hecklers to give a speech. He awarded thousands of pounds of public money to a “close friend” who told her friends they had a sexual relationship. Oh and put her on overseas trade missions she shouldn’t have been on.
And allegedly groped a journalist.

What’s great about that?

I find him entertaining and enjoy listening to him.
First time I've ever said that about a politician .

There was a quote a while back when Trump was flying high just before he was elected, and some journalist said some along the lines of 'Trump could literally take a dump in the middle of Park Ave now and his supporters would applaud'. I fear the supporters of Boris are in the same camp. I can clearly see the flaws of all the current leaders and am in thrall to none of them.

It proves that a neighbour was alarmed enough for the welfare of Carrie Symonds to knock several times on their front door

Another neighbour said she only heard a woman's voice - he might just have a 'shouty' girlfriend.

BJ was caught on camera lying ‘there’s no press here’ at a hospital where there was clearly press in attendance

We know that a tv crew was there (BBC?) - I wouldn't necessarily regard the BBC as "the press". From what I can remember BJ was interrupted when he said the press wasn't there - we don't know what he was going to say next.

he was totally ignoring the rebate in his figures though

The EU have already proposed phasing out the rebate over the next five years if we stay in;
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-eu-budget-rebate-gunther-oetinger-second-referendum-remain-a8580616.html

I went to a film premiere when he was London Mayor, and as the GLA sponsored the event he came and spoke. Unprepared, nothing of any value was said, bumbling was the politest way of putting it.

Even if he were a great public speaker, that does not make him a good Prime Minister. Oswald Mosley was, the last real fascist leader in this country.

What I have seen today wasn’t his best

But i disagree he was given the last pitch on the very last eu referendum debate (on the bbc) so basically he closed the show with a winning speech I knew then we were leaving - I was gutted

He is a master at winning over voters not so good at debating

And he is like Teflon nothing is sticking he never should have been PM and many said he never would be - they were wrong and he will win the next election

Clav it was recorded! It’s not a case of one neighbour’s word against the other.

BBC not the press? Clutching at straws.

Possibly phasing out the rebate over 5 years doesn’t defend his bigger bus comment. He ignored any rebate entirely.

I guess you’d need a really sunny and optimistic personality to want to polish that turd

Did he tell a story about dead sheep/Jaws by any chance, ForalltheSaints?

Clav it was recorded! It’s not a case of one neighbour’s word against the other.

We've only been given 'snippets' - BJ spilt wine on the sofa, girlfriend very cross, the neighbours hear her shout a lot, she has his laptop - was she going to damage his property in return?? Who knows?? Didn't one of her ex boyfriends say she was excitable/volatile?

I don't trust 'snippets' of conversations or interviews anymore: I keep seeing mash-ups of Nigel Farage apparently saying he wants a 'Norway deal' - clips taken from an interview with Andrew Marr before the referendum. I've watched the interview - he says he doesn't want a Norway deal - it suits them, not us. The Jacob Rees-Mogg '50 years' quote is a con as well - he is repeatedly asked, "What if you are wrong"? (about the wonderful benefits of Brexit - which have obviously been edited out of the clip).

Just noted Clav is glossing over the thousands of pounds of public money given to his ‘close friend’, and the trade missions she was sent on. Yeah, you can’t polish that, can you? Abuse of power.

He is great.

Lay off the coke, Carrie.

Imagine if Theresa May had had several children by various different men, had groped a journalist, had misled the Queen, had had a ‘friendship’ with a male stripper and funded his business with public money ... would she still be PM? I cannot believe anyone could deem BJ ‘great’ regardless of whether you’re a Tory supporter or not. The man is an absolute disgrace.

Lay off the coke, Carrie

But coke stains come out of the sofa so much easier than red wine.

Remember when Johnson conspired to have a journalist beaten up? There’s a recording of that conversation.

Yep. How can anyone ignore that. Eton must be so proud!

I like him too. He’s like a breath of fresh air after Theresa May.

As long as he keeps the socialists out of power, I wouldn’t care if he mooned John Bercow live on BBC Parliament, or offered people a live haddock to shake instead of his hand!

I saw a report the other day where Republican voters were asked about Trumps conversation with the Ukrainian president. The one he admits to having and where some details have been released by the White House. 40% were not convinced the conversation had taken place. A lot of Boris supporters remind me of the 40%, everything can be accused by pointing out a labour activist. Even when the cameras are rolling and the sound of other cameras is clear in the background, they still shout fake news.