Boris - Don’t Even Think About It

There can be no more clear sign that the Fourth Estate, and its co-opted body the Pundit Establishment, are totally out of touch with the country beyond their metropolitan hinterland, and equally out of touch with reality, that when the question of who the Tories might choose to succeed Theresa May is raised, their minds turn as if on autopilot to London’s formerly very occasional Mayor Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson.

A complete Muppet. And Elmo from Sesame Street

Bozza, we are told, is “popular”, someone who “connects” with people. What is not told is that Johnson was an abysmal Mayor of London, bequeathing his successor Sadiq Khan a city with mounting transport problems, appalling air quality, a litany of wasteful and poorly executed projects, housing and renting in crisis, and a record of cronyism which would make voters blanch - had the press done its job and reported it, which they did not.

Johnson also has a reputation as an unprincipled and serial liar, something that got him the sack not just from the Murdoch Times, but the Conservative front bench (Michael Howard did not axe Bozza for having an affair with Petronella Wyatt, but lying to him about it). The rumours of yet more extra-marital shagging have never gone away, and until and unless he comes clean on the subject, they never will.

Yet today we have faithful Murdoch retainer Trevor Kavanagh discussing who might replace Theresa May and observing “The bookies’ favourite is Boris Johnson, the only popular Tory in England”. Kavanagh, as well as being yet another in the Pundit Establishment who talks well, but lies badly, demonstrates in this one sentence why he has set sail once more on a sea of pure delusion.

Let me put it directly: no party, and certainly not the Tories, should even consider going near Bozza when it comes to choosing a leader. He could not be trusted any further than he could be usefully chucked. He is not only a liar and without discernible principle, he is in the game only for the benefit of Himself Personally Now. And there is more.

When Young Dave lost the EU referendum and threw in the towel, Bozza was one of the hopefuls seeking to replace his former Eton pal as Tory leader and PM. Remember how that went? He was on a joint ticket with Michael “Oiky” Gove until something prompted Gove to knife him in the back and stand as a candidate himself.

The same Fourth Estate and Pundit Establishment knows full well why Gove knifed Bozza. All those calling for him to become Prime Minister know that what put Gove off him is still out there. At least part of that knowledge has made its way to Zelo Street. And if it’s arrived out here in Crewe, it must have been round the Westminster village already.

Yet the press believes it can keep the lid on it. The delusion that they can get their man into Downing Street - remember, Bozza is first and foremost a journalist - without his past catching up with him tells you all you need to know about this tone-deaf, out of touch, self-serving, self-selecting and monstrously corrupt club.

Whatever the Tories’ question, Boris Johnson is not the answer. That some are still prepared to put his name forward as PM tells you all you need to know about the press.