Boris Johnson will bring some sunshine to No10 after all the grey of Ham and May
A SMALL but thunderous cloud of Tory ministers did its best to rain on Boris Johnson’s parade yesterday.
It had nothing to do with his rackety love life, his perceived gaffes, jokes or occasional cock-ups, literal or figurative. There is plenty of that in British politics already.
No, this was the ugly but authentic rage of so-called Tory “moderates”, the pro-Brussels diehards who will never forgive our new PM for leading Leave to victory in 2016.
Tory Remainers, stymied once again by the ballot box, had just seen their last chance of sabotaging the 2016 Referendum go up in smoke.
Boris the unapologetic Brexiteer won double the votes for Remain wobbler Jeremy Hunt, the last fond hope for a Tory BRINO — Brexit In Name Only.
Such a victory — unimaginable six months ago — is an affront to this puffed-up metropolitan elite. After all, Boris is a buffoon, isn’t he? A ridiculous mini-Trump figure with a brain the size of a pea.
The image has raced around the world, peddled in America by the increasingly absurd New York Times and Washington Post.
Friends in Australia report sneering primetime TV tirades from London by Labour hatchet man Alastair Campbell, campaigner for a so-called People’s Vote.
European papers peddle images of Boris looking silly on a zip-wire. Here at home, doomed Remainers such as Phil Hammond and little Alan Duncan trip over each other to tell the BBC the good news — they are quitting before being sacked.
Even some so-called journalists have lost their minds. Take Ian Dunt, the editor of a political website that claims to be “impartial . . . with no political affiliation”.
Yesterday this bastion of impartiality took to Twitter (of course) to mark Boris’ appointment urging his nearly 200,000 followers: “Right lads, let’s f*** him up.”
Well, I am no misty-eyed admirer, but I am happy to make a prediction. Given half a chance, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will surprise us all on the upside.
He will get us out of the EU by November 1 as promised. Britain will thrive and flourish once we have negotiated the choppy waters to an open sea.
And perhaps my boldest forecast of all — Boris will lead the Tories to victory in the next General Election and put Brexit to bed.
There are some “ifs” and “buts”, of course. Boris is famously undisciplined. His lack of focus infuriates allies. One aide recently threw BoJo out of his office for refusing to be serious. Nothing new in that.
FAMOUSLY UNDISCIPLINED
At one point in the London Mayoral election when he seemed to be losing, Boris was warned to buckle down or have his “f***ing knees cut off”.
As PM he will have no time for tennis or horizontal jogging. He will need to focus 24/7. Sabre-rattling by Iran is just one more life-or-death challenge hitting Downing Street night and day.
But despite his own best efforts to play the clown, BoJo is no buffoon. He is no Donald Trump, either. If anything, he is more like Ronald Reagan, the much- derided US president who brought sunshine to the White House, ended the Cold War, revived the US economy and put a smile on the face of America.
Boris can do that. At the very least he will bring can-do warmth and optimism to a Downing Street chilled to the bone by ice maiden Theresa May and her grim-faced Chancellor.
Far from being a duffer, Boris is highly intelligent, brighter perhaps than anyone else in his new Cabinet.
He is a multilingual fast learner, a sponge of information whose chaotic appearance is both natural and cultivated.
In the coming days, he will talk to his French antagonist Emmanuel Macron on equal terms — and in Macron’s own language. Critics will be waiting to pounce. Every word will be put under the microscope and dissected.
But Boris will be judged by his acts. To the surprise of some, he will emerge an easy-going social liberal, a million miles from the wild-eyed racist caricatured by his demented enemies.
CHEERS PEOPLE UP
He might even be too liberal for some Tory tastes. He has called for an amnesty for illegal migrants who have lived in Britain for 20 years without causing trouble. That will go down well with voters who used to support Labour.
It was his support for gay rights and racial equality that helped win him two terms as Mayor of Labour-dominated London.
One thing is for sure, he will unleash Phil Hammond’s buttoned-up budget and force the Treasury to spend on welcome infrastructure and improvements to health and social security.
Boris has learned it pays to be underestimated. It pays to disarm people with a good laugh. He cheers people up and they love him for it.
This is why he wins elections — often as a rank outsider.
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But in the final analysis, he will be judged on Brexit and what happens on October 31. He will need hard negotiating skills to win a new deal with the European Union over the coming weeks.
Parliament is stacked against him. But he has a powerful card to play. Britain is now an avowed Brexit nation, led for the first time by a Brexit PM and backed by a Cabinet sworn to accept No Deal if negotiations fail by October 31.
This is BoJo’s trump card — without a better EU offer he will call a snap No Deal autumn election against a squabbling Labour Party and a Brexit Party without a cause. Polls suggest he could win it with a 40-seat majority.
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