Boris says awesome things...

As Boriswatch reader jaspreet has pointed out, a TV documentary called Watching The Spectator will be aired tonight at 9pm on BBC Two. Fingers crossed it’s a positive analysis…

Boris really is back on form. Late last night, when I’d finally found BBC4 on NTL’s highly illogical channel numbering system, I happened on Boris in full flow to the anodine Kirsty Wark. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen Boris interviewed like this before – where the only input is solely by him, and where the focus of the programme is solely about him. But there’s no doubt that Brand Boris is evolving – from the entertaining character we know and love to the more serious politician and social commentator with his own views to convey. He promoted the Tory cause to the hilt, but when pressed it was clear he wasn’t going to toe the party line if he disagreed with it. Either it’s a show of defiance, or an inkling of what we would get if Boris was in charge.
After several hardhitting questions, fended off in typically rambunctious fashion, the last few minutes were devoted to the question of Boris’s ascension to leader of the party. He must have been expecting the question, but he pondered awhile, saying that he’s “never had a plan”, before coming out with his most obscure but ingenious response to date. “It’s a bit like building an Early Learning Centre climbing frame. Have you ever built an Early Learning Centre climbing frame, Kirsty?” You could imagine the blank look of Kirsty’s face. “If you ever build one, you’ll find that if you think about it too much, it all goes wrong. When you call the Early Learning Centre climbing frame suicide line, they tell you to just keeping going and not think about it too much. I found that advice very useful.”

An excellent observation by Simon Hoggart in The Guardian, about the recent violence football fans near Liverpool:
“It was also [apparently] the FA’s fault for “rolling over” to meet the BBC’s scheduling demands. (The match started in the early evening, after many fans had spent the afternoon getting drunk.)
Quite why the BBC and the FA should be blamed because a bunch of Liverpudlians were pissed and violent, he did not explain. But I think in view of events, it might be an idea for the population of the city to come south and apologise to Boris Johnson.”

Boris interviewed by Kirsty Wark for BBC4. Don’t miss it – Tuesday 22nd Feb, 11.30pm, BBC4. More info here on boris-johnson.com.

Boris seems to be steadily seeping into the news of late – and about time too. This week was a case in point – Boris’s staunch defence of Ken Livingston’s right to have views, drawing on his own recent Mersey mission. Sadly, this was misinterpreted by some as a defence of Ken’s views, rather than Ken’s right to have views – but it certainly shows that Boris is sticking his head over the parapet once more, and for that we can only be ecstatic.
He’s not been neglecting his local duties, though. At the beginning of the month, Boris opened the new Village Centre function room in Chinnor.
I have a feeling that in the coming weeks and months we’ll be seeing more and more of Boris – a man who the columnist Toby Young referred to this weekend as “a future Conservative leader”…

I’ve been neglecting you, there’s no doubt about it. The lack of firm Boris news, combined with a house move and 3 weeks of travelling in my day job, and your humble host is a little behind the times. To top it all off, the vultures of influenza have been swirling for around 2 weeks now, causing my normally barely functioning mind to come to a complete standstill.
That’s not stopped eager readers emailing in, and stalwarts posting praise and prose on the forums. “What the hell is this site? I love it!” wrote in one American reader, obviously enamoured with Boris and his followers. Several others (thanks Pomoman, Elaine and Gooper) emailed in to say that Boris had got a Valentine’s surprise from the Mail on Sunday, and that he was one of the few to phone and say thank you for it, “in a chivelrous manner”. Good on you, Bozza.
Boriswatch reader John wrote to tell me about the recent Manchester United/Everton match, where the increasingly popular chant of “There’s only one Boris Johnson” could be heard from the rooftops – only this time it was directed at Liverpool, but at Everton. I’m not sure Boris is brimming with pleasure at being the subject of a football chant, but at least one thing can be said for the recent Liverpool debacle – Boris now has the backing of most supporters in English football.

Thanks to the fine Boris fans amongst us, Boris has won the Channel 4 Political Impact Awards! Here’s Channel 4’s woefully-short-of-info announcement, with a handy link to a video of the news piece.

“I used to come here a lot but I can’t remember why.” Boris brings sunshine into Chester, and leaves them all smiling…
Editor Note: Thank God for this titbit of news. I can see from the forums that it isn’t just me who wishes for more news from the Big Bozza. Ah well…