Boris is Sacked
admin | November 13, 2004Boris, as many of you have pointed out in the last couple of hours, has been sacked as Tory shadow arts minister and vice-chairman, just a day after praising Boris in the highest and most sarcastic manner possible. The Conservative spokesman tonight issued a statement which included a thinly veiled attempt to out him over recent allegations. Tomorrow morning’s papers will apparently show that he did have an affair with Petronella Wyatt. After lying back, taking in the posted comments and curdling the various resultant thoughts in my mind, I think now is the time to post.
Boris, as I’ve pointed out, was the only popular minister in politics. The Conservatives, as the party most like to hate in these days of media-led opinion, desperately need popular figureheads to survive. It had only one. Now it has none. The sacking of Boris will only confirm to the thousands who visit this site, the thousands who visit his official site, and the tens of thousands who support, understand and cherish Boris’s words and thoughts, that the Conservatives are becoming irretrievably out of touch with common consensus and astonishingly unaware of the potential for the popular vote, rather than just the cerebral one.
Boris has made an error of judgement. Michael Howard’s judgement is even graver - a kneejerk reaction based on earlier kneejerk reactions, opportunistically carried out for shallow reasons. Boris has got more publicity and bonhomie for the Conservative party than Mr Howard can now ever do - and this appears to have all come to naught. I trust that in the days to come, Boris will come out of hiding and explain his side of the story, in the easy going and considered way that has brought him so many followers.
Looking back on my words above, it seems that the word “Conservatives” could easily, and more correctly, be replaced by “Michael Howard”. For it is he who has sacked Boris, and it was he who managed to destroy Boris’s reputation in the early hours of the Liverpool saga, by declaring the Spectator column “nonsense from beginning to end”. As Boris commented darkly in the days afterwards, had Mr Howard read the column he would have found that the majority agree with the greater part of the article. Mr Howard was just following those kneejerk reactions that he seems to love so much.
Echoing many of the comments posted here tonight, I am unable to comprehend how the Conservatives, or indeed Michael Howard, see Boris as more of a liability than an asset. Yes, he has his detractors. So do I. So does Tony Blair. So does Michael Howard, in far greater numbers than those of Boris. Boris’s bell has tolled in the political world, but he’ll be back, doing so effortlessly what he has done in the past - transcending the class barriers and talking to the public in a language we all understand. For that is the key to winning elections - and that is the key that Michael Howard has just thrown away.
Update: Lets your feelings be known. Send messages to the BBC News “Have Your Say” forum. Also, get active and send your input to the Conservative Party website, and the Boris Johnson website.
UPDATE 2: Boriswatch visitor has created a “Bring Back Boris” petition.
Oh, and yes, I'm angry.
Wibbler | November 13, 2004Oh, and yes, I’m angry.
Ah well, there goes the only Tory frontbencher with any
ionicus | November 13, 2004Ah well, there goes the only Tory frontbencher with any personality at all.
Absolute disaster! As I said in the forum, this all looks
dafyd | November 13, 2004Absolute disaster!
As I said in the forum, this all looks a little too rushed and badly thought through.
I have no doubt that Boris will be back before long, bigger and better than ever before!
Nooooooooo... How thick can Michael Howard get? According to BBC News:
chez dafyd | November 13, 2004Nooooooooo…
How thick can Michael Howard get? According to BBC News: Boris Johnson has been sacked as Tory shadow arts minister amid allegations about his private life, a spokesman for party leader Michael Howard has said. The spokesman said Mr Johnson…
I can't belief it - surely there are more offensive
lowspec42 | November 13, 2004I can’t belief it - surely there are more offensive figures to boot out
The back-stabbing that has been around in the Conservative party
dafyd | November 13, 2004The back-stabbing that has been around in the Conservative party since 1990 really caused this - Michael Howard, having himself succesfully challenged for the leadership of the party, started to get worried about Boris’ popularity. So he sacked him. Great move.
Now Boris will go down in the eyes of Daily Mail readers (the ones who didn’t like him anyway), and go up in the eyes of the Sun and so on - those who normally wouldn’t care. As I’ve said several times this evening, I doubt very much that Boris will stay down for long, and when he does he will have more support than ever before. (Hmm… Star Wars - “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine”)
Well done to Michael Howard for dealing with this in
Tim Ireland | November 14, 2004Well done to Michael Howard for dealing with this in a considered and measured manner. His is the kind of leadership this country needs.
While these are the three words that probably got Boris into trouble, I dare to repeat them:
Boris. For. Leader.
4 words: Something. Of. The. Night. Howard is power-hungry, vindictive,
Deek Deekster | November 14, 20044 words: Something. Of. The. Night.
Howard is power-hungry, vindictive, vain, and unpopular, and Boris may be fallible but he is none of those.
Looks like they have to be beige old men.
gentlereader | November 14, 2004Looks like they have to be beige old men. You know, I’m never going to vote Conservative, something Boris was making me consider doing.
Down With Howard! see here http://www.thespod.com/showStory.php?storyid=37
johnj | November 14, 2004Down With Howard!
see here
http://www.thespod.com/showStory.php?storyid=37
I despair of the Tory Party - it abandons and
Groober | November 14, 2004I despair of the Tory Party - it abandons and alienates figures with charm and charisma like Boris, Ken Clarke, Portillo, even Maggie, and replaces them with faceless dead-beats and dullards like Ancram, IDS and, supremely crassly, Redwood!! Boris has appeal above his party affiliations, politics should be about more than just picking the colour of a rosette……..
How dumb can you be, Howard? Well, at least Howard will be yesterday’s man after Blair kicks his butt in the election next year, and we can but hope Boris has the patience to stick with this bunch of lemmings in the Tory Party long enough to realise his true and extraordinary potential.
You twat, Howard.
Ah well it isn't all bad, news is that Bush
John | November 14, 2004Ah well it isn’t all bad, news is that Bush is coming over to “boost” Blair’s election campaign. So it could be really close since people hate Blair but hate Bush even more.
Aghast to read this! Why couldn't this have happened
Jon Baggaley | November 14, 2004Aghast to read this! Why couldn’t this have happened to a more deserving case (Blunket for example). All thoughts of voting for the conservatives are now gone. With the UKiP having effectively imploded that leaves only the Liberals… Oh for a proper opposition party.
Liberals? I wouldn't vote them if they were the only
John | November 14, 2004Liberals? I wouldn’t vote them if they were the only ones standing. I won’t vote Labour, and Tories have lost my vote. What does that leave? Not voting, which means, Labour will stay in power. Oh it’s an endless loop of “we are screwed-ness”.
I agree with the above comments, I don't think I'll
Mark | November 14, 2004I agree with the above comments, I don’t think I’ll be voting Tory next year.
Thanks, I took your advice and posted some comments to
Alex | November 14, 2004Thanks, I took your advice and posted some comments to the Conservative party website and the Beeb. Now where do I go to sign the petition to bring him back?
The nation laughs at the bumbling idiot... It's nice of
Jason Davis | November 14, 2004The nation laughs at the bumbling idiot… It’s nice of him to try and keep the spirits high during a time of war…
Good riddance to in-bread rubbish – Toodle Pip Boris and don’t come back!
I'm confused - does Michael Howard secretly work for Labour
Paul | November 14, 2004I’m confused - does Michael Howard secretly work for Labour or something? Is he so desperate to lose the next election that he drains the party of all colour to make them as unattractive a vote as possible?
Boris Johnson will return.
Perhaps too hasty accusing Boris of erring. Anyone with any
Adhib | November 14, 2004Perhaps too hasty accusing Boris of erring. Anyone with any appreciation of the man’s unique British style (surely this includes Petsy?) would realise that he will be selecting his next wife from among just those women called Maxi …
Boris - Allegra
Boris - Marina
Boris - … Petronella? Not in my BMC book.
I've created an online petition to "Bring Back Boris" at
dafyd | November 14, 2004I’ve created an online petition to “Bring Back Boris” at http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/boris... if enough people sign it, we can send it off to Mr Howard and see what sort of reaction we get…
This is a sad day for british politics. I am
Stuart Gardener | November 14, 2004This is a sad day for british politics. I am perfectly justified in saying that the only real character in british politics has been sacked. What hope does the conservative party have if not Boris Johnson. I believe that he is just the old fashioned sort of amiable ‘uncle’ figure that British politics need. Whenever a problem arises we could all call upon shadow minister Boris Johnson and all would be sorted out. This theory applies even if he is only providing simple comic relief on the tv shows he has appeared on of which there are an abundance such as “Room 101″ and appearing as host on “Have I Got News for You”. As a 14 year old i think that we have lost a man which many teenagers and children can relate to. This man absoloutley refused to conform to the stereotypical mould of a tory politician-how many times have you seen Michael Howard cycling to work. I believe that when Boris Johnson got sacked politics lost not only a very good politician, but possible the only honest one. I believe he had the right to deny the allegations brought against him even describe them as ‘an inverted pyramid of piffle and balderdash.’ as his private life should remain his own. I believe Boris Johnson was a funny, amiable, witty man and overall nice sort of a chap.
Piffle Oh well, perhaps they can get Boris to appear on
Spinneyhead | November 14, 2004Piffle
Oh well, perhaps they can get Boris to appear on Have I Got News For You more often now he’s been sacked. There’s a petition to bring him back. He is, after all, the only interesting and likeable person in the Conservative party.
I agree that Michael Howard is to blame for this
Stuart L. | November 14, 2004I agree that Michael Howard is to blame for this entire travesty. Howard should have never put Boris’s penis in that Wyatt woman’s vagina.
I am not suggesting that Howard is at fault for
Wibbler | November 14, 2004I am not suggesting that Howard is at fault for Boris’s alleged affair, Stuart L. But we are suggesting that to get rid of such a leading light so quickly and emphatically, when there are mainly more in all the main parties that are in a similar situation, smacks of shooting yourself in the foot.
May I quote the wibbler of 7/11/04? "Boris has flatly denied
Bob H | November 14, 2004May I quote the wibbler of 7/11/04?
“Boris has flatly denied it (again) - so voraciously in fact that it’s hard to see how it could be true without Boris being an utter goner.”
And I stand by that comment wholeheartedly, in true Boris
wibbler | November 14, 2004And I stand by that comment wholeheartedly, in true Boris style - it is hard to see how he can bounce back again the double blows of the last few weeks. But with the outpouring of support we’ve seen in the last couple of days, and with our support, we’ll help give him his best shot.
Did'nt Boris get the sack from the Times for lying
Bob H | November 14, 2004Did’nt Boris get the sack from the Times for lying or am I a Meringue? The demise of his career,I trust,will not cause a ‘wallowing in grief’ here in Liverpool
I know poor Boris, lets not blame him! He couldn't even
Me | November 14, 2004I know poor Boris, lets not blame him!
He couldn’t even afford to pay for his own Mistress’s abortion. Lying to your wife (the mother of his 4 children) it’s nothing because at the end of the day we all love the bumbling idiot that is Boris.
Mr Howard said that the reason Boris Johnson was dismissed
Andrew Denny | November 15, 2004Mr Howard said that the reason Boris Johnson was dismissed was not because he had an affair, but for ‘not being frank about it’.
Call me a messed-up child of the Sixties if you like (or a hypocritical Victorian) but not only do I think that a man’s personal lifestyle is is own business, but I also believe that he has a perfect right to lie about it in public, just as he has a right to lie about whether he wipes his backside with his left or right hand. IT IS NONE OF OUR BUSINESS.
To paraphrase Dr Johnson, on affairs of the heart a man is not on oath.
The Viz cartoon ‘The Bottom Inspectors’ sums this up perfectly. In that strip, not only can you get arrested for having a dirty bottom, but it’s an even worse crime for lying about a dirty bottom.
I always think it’s silly to say about a political party “I’ll never vote for them again”. People were saying that about Labour in the 1980s. But my will to vote Conservative has been diminishing for the past decade and more, and I see no relief on the horizon. I want conservatives to conserve, I don’t want them to offer better management of a transition to authoritarian republicanism.
Andrew Denny wrote: "Call me a messed-up child of the Sixties
Stuart L. | November 15, 2004Andrew Denny wrote:
“Call me a messed-up child of the Sixties if you like (or a hypocritical Victorian) but not only do I think that a man’s personal lifestyle is is own business, but I also believe that he has a perfect right to lie about it in public, just as he has a right to lie about whether he wipes his backside with his left or right hand.”
I personally wouldn’t vote for an MP who didn’t use toilet paper. And if I had to shake his hand I should have the right to know which one he wiped with.
Is Boris actually David Mellor (ptII)? Wave goodbye to Boris, the
Major Spliff | November 15, 2004Is Boris actually David Mellor (ptII)?
Wave goodbye to Boris, the stupid upper-class twat!
I can't quite believe this. The man lied. No matter
Edward | November 15, 2004I can’t quite believe this. The man lied. No matter how good, cool, clever, intelligent and generally brilliant you are you cannot lie and expect to keep your job as a politician where trust is everything.
He has not been sacked as a celebrity, but celebrity is subtly different from being a politician. I cannot believe you are backing a liar. Like Howard or not, want intrusion into private lives or not (I don’t) he had no option. If Boris hadn’t wanted to comment he could have just said he did not think it was of public interest.
Howard has acted like an absolute bloody idiot. He's pathetic
Steve | November 15, 2004Howard has acted like an absolute bloody idiot. He’s pathetic - does anyone seriously see this guy as Prime Minister? He’d be a joke. What Boris did was wrong, but unless he knows for sure what the truth is, how on earth does Michael “Did You Threaten To Overrule Him?” Howard know that he lied? Great way to win the election, Dracula - sacking your most popular and famous MP. I know Boris will be back - when the Tories lose the next election and Howard steps down, Boris will be back.
bring him back. so what if he lied. everyone makes
jaclyn | November 16, 2004bring him back. so what if he lied. everyone makes mistakes it just seems that the concentration of mistakes for boris over the last few weeks has been high. unless boris comes back, i predict the conservatives will lose a few votes, including myself. its his private life, not his career.