Liz Truss has resigned. Part 3: The Return of the King?

[sunnydaytoday0]

Continuation from last thread.

By Monday we could have a new prime minister, and by next Friday at the latest.

Will Sunak win this time, or could Johnson get his old job back? Would the Tory members once again go against the wishes of the MPs?

And yes I think Johnson sees himself as some sort of world king..

Johnson loves his hols. In Slovenia, he enjoyed eating bear (yea really!). It amazes me that Carrie and he are presented as some sort of environmental, animal lovers...

Pippa crerar at pippacrerar
NEW: Steve Baker, ex ERG chief, latest Tory right-winger to back Rishi Sunak.

James Duddridge MP also posted a Pippa Crerar tweet yesterday - (from 11 July after Boris Johnson had resigned);

Madeline Grant
Which of the Tory leadership contenders would Labour fear most?

Pippa Crerar
@ PippaCrerar

Boris Johnson.

1:13 pm Jul 11, 2022

I'm centre left so I'm enjoying it. I was angry about Corbyn blowing up Labour's chances with his '70s revival, and even more irritated with his fans' wide-eyed insistence that he was just a kindly old man who wanted all the children to be happy.

Now I understand what my Tory friends were feeling when they would chuckle and say that they liked Corbyn for the entertainment value.

Actually that's an important point. Turnout reached a high point in 1992 and 1997 and then dropped dramatically. I don't know how the scale of that compares to the population increase, but it may be that they more or less balance each other out and the number of votes to go round is about the same.

Steven Swinford AT Steven_Swinford
Hearing that Jeremy Hunt has reached out to both Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson as he weighs up Tory leadership

However he's heard nothing back from Johnson despite contacting him multiple times

Sounds like animosity from the 2019 Tory leadership campaign still runs very deep

borntobequiet
he broke his own rules repeatedly, even when the Queen was observing them while mourning the death of her husband

Boris Johnson wasn't in residence in Number 10 when the April 2021 party took place - it was reported that he went to Chequers on the Thursday afternoon and returned to London on Saturday morning, the day of Prince Philip’s funeral - the party took place on the Friday evening whilst he was away. Did Keir Starmer think about the Queen sitting on her own whilst he enjoyed a beer and curry with 16 other people less than 2 weeks after the funeral? Is that the reason why he tried to conceal how many people were there? Is that why Starmer posed for socially distanced photographs, outside in the cold, the evening before the curry? Why he ate outside the evening before? Good optics? If anything, the imagery of the Queen sitting on her own should make Starmer feel embarrassed that he was having a 'cosy curry' with 16 other people less than 2 weeks after the funeral.

Oh give over Clav. Is that seriously all you’ve got?

Surely Johnson? Particularly with the standards committee issue looming. I can't for the life of me understand why he's even in consideration.

But then what do I know. I've thought Johnson was a lying toad unsuitable for public office since forever, but enough people loved him in 2019. Some of them still do, so all I can conclude is that I don't understand people.

Sunak is just a rich bastard who will dedicate his time in office to looking after the prosperity of other rich bastards at everyone else's expense. But that's just the Tory way. He seems nonetheless a reasonable and rational human with the ability to add numbers up correctly, follow a coherent argument, answer a question meaningfully and understand the standards of behaviour required to maintain credibility. Reaching that (admittedly shockingly low) bar puts him head and shoulders above either Johnson or Truss as PM material.

There's not really any way out of this for the Tories now, but at least Sunak might make things dribble on for the next two years while he imposes some semblance of "stability", and that becomes the basis of a narrative that some die hards will vote for in 2024 to minimise the devastation. Who knows how long Johnson will be there before he plunges us into the next constitutional crisis, because it's all a laugh to him and he doesn't give a shit?

You must be truly desperate to drag up that old debunked chestnut, Clavinova.

Starmer was cleared.

Johnson and Sunak were not and were fined.

Blossomtoes
Oh give over Clav. Is that seriously all you’ve got?

That Keir Starmer is a hypocrite? That his fabled integrity is an illusion? That he cares more about optics than anything else?

I expect there are a lot on undeclared MPs having urgent chats with their constituencies today.

Apparently Johnson's team spammed the membership directly yesterday with Bring back Boris and now every pro Johnson supporter can send a special form letter of support to their local associations and sitting MP. That is some pita for an MP to deal with.

Tanith
You must be truly desperate to drag up that old debunked chestnut

I was disputing borntobequiet's claim - she dragged it up. Why did she mention the Queen? Is she desperate?

Starmer was cleared

Not relevant to my post or the point I was making.

That’s rich coming from a Johnson supporter.

(((Dan Hodges))) AT DPJHodges
What's fascinating is the difference in the two campaign operations. Rishi team's argument this morning has been "Vote for Rishi, he'll get to grips with the economic crisis". Team Boris argument has been "Vote for Boris, he's learnt to tuck in his shirt".

OK I've just watched it here:

www.lbc.co.uk/radio/special-shows/call-keir/17-01-pmqs-partygate/

Nick Ferarri: "How many people were there in total?"

Keir Starmer: (mumbling) "Well I normally . . . er . . . (thinks) . . . normally have about six with me. Whether it was six or not I don't know. Usually when I'm travelling round the country we have about six people . . ."

I'll preface this by saying I actually agree (based on his record within the Labour party) that Starmer is a liar and a hypocrite who cares far more about optics than genuine convictions. But that looks more like either a misunderstanding (he seems to refer to the people he had brought with him, whereas the 17 in total I think included the local activists who were there) or a typical politician's fudge than a lie. He basically admits he can't remember.

And regardless, he was found by the police to have not broken lockdown rules, even on the basis of the number of people who WERE confirmed there. So - so what?

I have little time for Starmer, but even less for the pathetic desperation of trying to pretend something like this is somehow on a par with Johnson's brazen disregard for truth, standards or integrity.

I cannot look or listen to Kier without recalling every single pantomime dame and drag act I have ever set eyes upon. He just feels palpably emasculated to a deeply unattractive extent. I could never vote for him in a million years.

I think being realistic, even if Labour came into power tomorrow, they’d face the same problems. I don’t think Sir Keir has a magic fairy wand and will solve the UKs problems as quickly as some may think.
And I say that as someone who would vote for Labour in a GE, if there was an election tomorrow.
As it stands we still have a Tory government for another two years.
Who knows, the Tories may miraculously turn things around in the next two years and win again. Obviously I don’t don’t know.

Dont think though that Sunak is going to be great for the working class. Him and Truss both smiled and said they’d ban striking, thus taking away workers rights. He was a banker. A businessman. He’s about businesses. The difference is, he’s more capable than Truss. But that doesn’t say much. Truss was appalling and thanks to her I’m paying higher interest rates on my new mortgage deal.

Boris is probably more to the left than Sunak- maybe down to Carrie Simons?

I get the feelings through people think that with Boris as leader, Labour would win easily. I’m not so sure that’s the case. Like him or loathe him, the man wins elections. The man is also teflon.

Borntobequiet 8.40 a.m post
100% correct!

What a perverse post.

Anyway, hard to see Johnson getting it now given even the ERG isn’t enamoured with his bullshit anymore. What a waste of a Caribbean holiday.

Yes, but isn't he just so adorable

<sarcasm>

@Croque what an absolutely bizarre point to make.

Am a labour voter but I can respect a tory polician who has integrity, whilst disagreeing with their views on everything. Teresa May for example. I cannot understand anyone getting back behind Boris as he seems to have no personal standards at all. It does make me wonder about the personal moral compass of those supporting him.

scaredoff
He basically admits he can't remember

Starmer was interviewed (or 'grilled' depending on your viewpoint) by Sophie Raworth the day before his interview with Nick Ferarri - and he still couldn't remember there were more than 6 people with him in Durham? He had no briefing despite the media interest? Give over. I heard the original LBC interview back in January and posted on here at the time that Starmer's answer was deliberately misleading at best. He was quite clearly asked; "How many people were there in total?" No misunderstanding.

In the Sophie Raworth interview, Starmer said there was 'no comparison' with his 'beer and curry' (17 people) compared to the 'cheese and wine meeting' at Number 10 (I think I counted 19 people - the 'cheese and wine meeting' was found not to have broken the rules either);

www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1550807/Keir-Starmer-BBC-Labour-Party-leader-Sophie-Raworth-party-gate-Boris-Johnson-latest-vn

Talking about parties:

‘Outgoing PM Liz Truss partying at Chequers’.

mobile.twitter.com/i/events/1584111896139112448

Blossomtoes · Today 12:20

"Oh give over Clav. Is that seriously all you’ve got?"

It's deluded Desperation!

Well only ONE person from the 60 that make up the ERG is not keen on Boris. Baker whom has ambitions of his own to become PM, and is a well known Gove disruptor in the ERG most of us would have been more surprised if he had come out for Boris.
In fact it looks like many of the ERG are indeed backing Boris.
So much so that Boris now has the 100 backers he needs:

www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/22/boris-johnson-has-100-backers-needs-run-pm/

www.reuters.com/world/uk/boris-johnson-has-100-backers-uk-leadership-contest-sunday-times-citing-source-2022-10-22/