Why the fuck is Boris Johnson still Prime Minister?

[noblegiraffe]

Fucksake. I mean seeing minister after minister wheeled out to defend the indefensible in the media rounds. Do they have no shame? Prattling on about how it was an 'essential part of leadership' to be a Toastmaster to an illegal piss-up. No, leadership was the Queen sat alone at a funeral, like so many of her subjects had to do. Not carrying on with your unprofessional boozy work culture and then have your team crow about how they 'got away with it' when they successfully didn't vomit in front of the cameras there for another press conference telling everyone how important it was to stick to the rules.

Johnson knew it wasn't right to have birthday parties when he personally wrote to a kid saying they were right to not have theirs, but then thought it was just fine to have one of his own and then announce that all rules had been followed to Parliament? (The police disagree, as does anyone who was forced to cancel their own celebrations).

Telling people that it was his duty to have a party for leaving colleagues while at the same time people couldn't be with dying family?

And now they are having the gall to say that he has accepted full responsibility? How? That sort of statement is followed by a resignation, not a 'now let's forget about it and move on'. How has he demonstrated that he has done anything apart from his utmost to weasel out of taking any sort of responsibility, to the point of asking Sue Gray to give up on her report? The report that that he told the rest of us that we had to wait months for the outcome of to find out what he already knew.

He says he wants to deliver what the British people want. Polls said yesterday that a majority want him to resign. Get the fuck on with it then.

But polls also showed that only a tiny minority of people actually believe he has the integrity to do the right thing (learned from bitter experience).

So what, the British people are stuck with this craven, corrupt liar as leader?

Well no. He could be no-confidenced by his MPs. What the fuck are they waiting for? Do they think it is to their benefit to have him shitting over public office every day? 'Oh but they can't think of anyone better'. What exactly does that say about the state of the Tory party if that's true?

Cannot stand seeing his face, hearing his pathetic lies, seeing his shitty schtick any more. JUST FUCK OFF BORIS.

And even worse, we seem to be drifting into a type of dictatorship, with the incumbents quietly dismantling any remaining structure, process or organisation that might expose or otherwise challenge them. It's frightening.

I'm most angry at Cummings who created this monster and is now wondering why he can no longer control it.

Because Tory voters are skilled in the art of Cognitive Dissonance and don't give a monkey's back passage about the rest of us. He could eat a baby live on national TV and come the election they'll all still slither out from underneath their rocks.

It is staggering. He is riding roughshod over the constitution, undermining Parliament and running the country into the ground with his dishonesty and incompetence and still the Conservative MPs don't have the balls to get rid of him.

But mainly, OP, I sympathise.

I'm really bone-tired of him. I'm hardly outraged any more.

Sad, really, that our PM is such a disgrace.

I think AppleandRhubarbTart has a point about Johnson's personal popularity with certain segments of the public. His going voluntarily (and the public believing that he really has) probably wouldn't hurt the party. His being visibly forced out would piss people off, and that's the only other way to do it. And since letters of no confidence are secret, unless people come forward the whole party would be under suspicion. It could be a disaster if he decided to milk it, Trump-style. Plus even if they get the 54 (?) Con MPs to force a vote of no confidence, they need 180 to remove him, and if they fail he's immune for a year. I'd imagine even people who want him gone and think it's possible are nervous about the timing.

Also, the Tories aren't great at choosing a leader - they typically seem to get the worst characters on the short list and then select the worst choice of all. (I suppose there was Rory Stewart, but he's buggered off to the USA as is customary for failed leadership candidates.)

We have now been successfully conditioned to think lying is normal in a Prime Minister.

I get the feeling that tired is what he is relying on. So bored of partygate being dragged out that sixth months later no one can be arsed to hold him to account for it.

Which is what he was hoping for.

Because Eton?

Because 75% of the National press are owned by billionaires who find it useful to have him stay?

Because he is a useful puppet for whoever is really pulling the strings?

Because we have no written constitution?

PLEASE let there be someone else for the job. Jeremy Hunt, step forward NOW while there is still something left to save!

Because we have no written constitution?

Although a written constitution doesn't prevent the legislature from just plain refusing to do anything about a corrupt leader if they don't want to. Look at the way the US Senate behaved during the Trump impeachment.

I'm really worried that we’ll all be so freezing and starving in a few months that we won’t have the energy to protest, and this corrupt arrogant culture around Johnson will just keep on going for years. I still can’t believe the Conservatives are happy to be represented by him.

Because there are some very powerful people who’s purpose it serves for him to be PM. As soon as it doesn’t he will be gone

The real reason Johnson is still PM is that the vast majority of Tory MPs take the view that he is still their best chance of winning the next General Election, and the best chance of keeping their own seats. The Tory party exists to win, and winning is the only thing that matters.

In case you weren’t aware, politics is a cynical business.

vast majority of Tory MPs take the view that he is still their best chance of winning the next General Election

Are they actually stupid? Polls say he should resign and also put Labour in the lead.

There are many who still see Boris, and it is always 'Boris', as a friend. They act like they enjoy his company and are sympathetic to the difficulties of his job. It astonishes me but is testament to the brand strength of 'Boris'.

It is a cross between people paying double for a shirt because if has the logo of a polo player on and a constantly battered wife defending her husband 'as I know he loses his temper alot and is violent but deep down he is a good man.'

Well, apparently one of the favourites to take over from him is Priti Patel.

But in truth I imagine that no-one actually wants to be leader. Just look at the last 3 years.

Johnson came to power to do Brexit, which he did. Then came COVID, then came the war in Ukraine. Only a masochist would want to take all that on.

And being sick of hearing about partygate doesn’t mean wanting to vote for the tories. The reality is that people are fed up of hearing about partygate. The investigations have been concluded, nobody has resigned, now they need to put that money into dealing with the cost of living crisis.

And for the people saying that they’ve brought in the measures to take the spotlight off partygate, who cares. It needed to be done, we needed measures. If the party scandal has brought that forward then so what.

They have the added bonus of excess of cunning.

@Noble I was interested to see Stephen Hammond has put in a letter of 'No Confidence'.

Long serving, signed the loyalty letter, put up and shut up about Brexit.

I think it's likely he's personally affronted but, more than that, I think he probably has been receiving letters from constituents and has been finding himself doing a lot of 'defending the indefensible'.

I think he - like quite a few others - must be a bit worried about his seat.

I think he's one MP that will lose his seat if the Lib Dems and Labour sign an unofficial non-aggression pact before the next GE.

I think only a split protest vote will save his seat.

And that's what I find really baffling. He can't be the only one.

The cost of living crisis is going to be brutal. We now know that the only ideas the Conservatives have are the ones they borrow - slowly - from Labour.

So ... voters are going to have a choice: Labour, with sensible, grounded policies.

Conservative, borrowed policies - but with added lies, disrespect, rule-breaking, cronyism, corruption ... a culture of openly despising the little people who vote for them.

All of that is encapsulated in the figure of Johnson.

Quite why they don't bin him, I have no idea.

Binning him won't help with the post-Brexit shitshow but it will allow a chance of a re-set on the whole arrogant, disdainful, couldn't-give-a-fuck-about-the-plebs stuff.

So why are they so spineless?

But that is likely to be 2 years away and I think Tory mps expect voters will stick with/return to Johnson by then.

They will come up with bribes etc and the Tory press will do their bit etc.

He us still PM because our MPs are morally bankrupt as is he. They are letting their constituents down for the sake of holding on to their jobs.
But I do believe they will all be gone after the next election.
I had to turn off my TV today as I couldn't bear watching Johnson chuckling and laughing and slimy Sunak thinking he is God's gift.

And no matter how big the bribes get they will never get my vote while Johnson is PM

"And for the people saying that they’ve brought in the measures to take the spotlight off partygate, who cares. It needed to be done, we needed measures. If the party scandal has brought that forward then so what."

Well it matters because it shouldn't take a crisis in Tory HQ to make those measures happen.
It matters because the timing of that help should centre on public need not to distract us from sleazy behaviour.

And what could possible go wrong in the next two years?

The awful thing (or one of the many awful things) is any subsequent lying, misleading parliament, lawbreaking in office, will have this as a precedent "Well when Johnson lied/ mislead (inadvertently) parliament / broke the law / insert other heinous vileness) he didn't resign"

Stephen Hammond certainly has received letters re this. His constituency is also in a Labour council. Labour stayed pretty much the same at the local elections but most Tory seats went directly to the LibDems who's candidate only lost to Stephen Hammond by 628 votes in 2019.

This is the current reality for Tory MPs in London but also in more traditional true blue areas. Look at JRM in Somerset.

However, the msm barely mentioned the appalling results for the Tories after the local elections. It was all the shiny new story of beergate being investigated.

And it's worth remembering ... while everyone is hurting after the pandemic and with war in Ukraine, the U.K. is faring uniquely badly.

Probably because of Johnson's 'oven-ready Brexit'.

We're looking at a catastrophic fall in living standards. A fall not previously seen outside of a war.

Johnson and his government have a lot to answer for.

I'm a lifelong Tory but have always disliked Boris, he's an awful person and a crap PM.

But I don't think anyone else is any better. I wouldn't vote for Starmer, would never vote for Lib Dems or Greens because of Women's rights.