Boris in ICU

[PicsInRed]

Oh Boris no 🙁

Of course he's clever!

I'm not sure if Eton has an entrance exam or not. I can imagine seeing their parents bank balance is the first thing they want to see before it gets to that bit.
I think Boris is intelligent , but not in the running the country way , more of the clever / classically educated way. His talents lie more in words and ancient history and being the fun friend with a witty demeanour and getting up to high japes with other rich friends. Chasing women is more his kind of thing. I never did think he went into politics for the good of anyone apart from his own ego. His sister said he always wanted the top job , but I doubt he thought it would as hard to do!
I don't wish him any harm at all and I'm sad that his poorly , but I do think it's a shame he chose politics when he could have had a much easier life carrying on as a journalist/ chat show personality type. He could have had a more lucrative career too probably. Politicians are not as highly paid generally.
Major of London suited him better but even that was controversial.
I wished politicians went into it for the good of the people, but many don't unfortunately.

Getting a Desmond from oxford was perfectly acceptable back then.

I'm not sure if Eton has an entrance exam or not. I can imagine seeing their parents bank balance is the first thing they want to see before it gets to that bit

It has Common Entrance, or did,.plus an exam

I dare say he was clever to be a scholar at Eton, but I would bet that we all know people who are clever but lazy, don't achieve the results that they ought to, and get overtaken by others who apply themselves better.

I think one thing you can be sure of is that he's not a scientist, and it shows.

I reckon he is clever but didn’t get the reference to PPE I thought he did classics.

But also privileged which helped probably even more back then when outreach etc handing been established.

But yeh not to diss him. I’m sure he’s pretty bright.

I'm not sure if Eton has an entrance exam or not. I can imagine seeing their parents bank balance is the first thing they want to see before it gets to that bit.

A simple google search would set you right. The entrance exam is daunting and the scholarship exam is exceptionally difficult.

I think one thing you can be sure of is that he's not a scientist, and it shows

Why the fuck should he be a scientist?? Big up the Classics massive.

I do hope he's not groping the female staff ! I don't wish him to be 'that well' !

He’s also good at reading scripts from TV experience but less so at off the cuff

Sure he’ll be back

I am sure he isn't groping anyone. Don't be disgusting.

Getting a 2:2 at the time when Johnson was there was perfectly acceptable. Would he have got to Oxford if he'd been a bright lad from a poor estate, going to whatever the local school offered? I very very much doubt it.

Would he have got to Oxford if he'd been a bright lad from a poor estate, going to whatever the local school offered? I very very much doubt it

Why is that relevant?

Why the fuck should he be a scientist??

Because when there is a medical/biological crisis happening he might then have known when to listen, and been able to ask pertinent questions of those proposing questionable theories.

Germany had tackled this crisis considerably better than most. Merkel is a scientist - it may be a coincidence or it may just indicate that the Germans have more respect for scientific knowledge.

Why is that relevant?

Because we are being told that he is oh so clever, without the acknowledgement that a moneyed background oiled the wheels for him.

@MarshaBradyo I was responding to a poster above me who bizarrely suggested that PPE graduates were incapable of looking at projections and that was why the British response was bad. Not suggesting that Boris did PPE, when he is rather famously a classicist.

Thanks Chipotle was feeling unsure about what I knew (and have had a drink compounding such feelings!)

I knew lots of people from well off backgrounds at Cambridge. They were all extremely clever as well. I also knew lots of very bright grammar kids (me). Everyone there was clever except Prince Edward

PPE is a broad degree, and I think that you could do very little economics if it didn't particularly interest you.

Because we are being told that he is oh so clever, without the acknowledgement that a moneyed background oiled the wheels for him.

It's not possible to become an Eton scholar in the absence of considerable intellectual prowess. It simply is not.

In the old days, it was certainly possible to be an oppidan/non-scholar Etonian who wasn't very bright.

peregrina

Boris Johnson is clever.

Erm, didn't that also apply to Prince Harry at Eton?

Prince Harry was not a scholar.

Read my entire post! I agreed that Boris is bright and Eton has an entrance exam which I'm sure is very difficult.
He isn't stupid at all! Far from it. But money also talks and I'm sure they wouldn't just take anyone in who couldn't afford the fees either. It's a very elitist establishment.

There interesting Peregrina I didn't know Merkel was a scientist. Perhaps you're right and that influenced Germany's approach. The last scientist in charge here was Thatcher. Wonder how she'd have handled this?