Boris always manages to look on the bright side. Credit: Barcroft Media / Barcroft Media via Getty Images
The news that our Prime Minister has become a father again is the second piece of personal good news he has had in a month. And once again, his opponents have shown that they cannot stand it — or even credit it — when something good happens to him.
The first piece of unalloyedly positive coverage he received came when he emerged from hospital on Easter Sunday. It was an exceptionally good news story — for the country as well as his family.
So much so, that his disgruntled opponents could not help but see dastardly practices at work. Chris Lockwood of The Economist managed to make a great virtual fool of himself by tweeting out that the Prime Minister’ appearance after emerging from hospital was “not someone who was at death’s door a few days ago”.
There seemed, according to the magazine’s Europe Editor (who would of course have no reason to hold a grudge against Boris Johnson) to be “something incredibly fishy about the whole business”. Lockwood subsequently backtracked from this claim, under a certain amount of virtual pressure and presumably some amount of actual, real-life pressure, from the higher-ups at his publication.
In a similar vein, The Guardian has found it hard to see anything especially positive in the announcement of Carrie Symonds giving birth to a baby boy. Ordinarily, it should be an easy one: “Congratulations to the happy couple on the birth of their child.” Even political opponents used to be able to agree on that sort of line. Not this time at The Guardian, where Martin Kettle announced in a sub-heading so gritted that you worried for his teeth: “It would require a heart of stone not to be moved by such a story of illness and new life. But this is no apolitical birth.”
As a metaphor for Boris Johnson’s view of Britain, it was, Kettle claimed in his confused argument, “audacious”. “The operation in Downing Street is still a lot smarter than many would like to see it” he warned. And amid the sound of his teeth finally giving in under the pressure, Kettle ground out the sentence, “Let’s acknowledge, if nothing else, that today’s announcement was a brilliantly executed piece of political tradecraft.”
It is understandable that Johnson’s opponents keep reacting like this; there is, of course, a reason. They see him as a political chancer who has got through life by being lucky and that if it were not for this, then he would have been exposed by now as a charlatan and a fraud whose copy would not be deemed printable in such august publications as The Guardian or Economist. Time and again his journalist critics ignore the fact that their estimation of the Prime Minister is out of kilter with the public’s.
And of course there is an inbuilt reason why that might be the case. Which is that Boris Johnson used to be one of them, soared exceptionally high in journalism, earned more than most journalists can ever dream of and then chose to leave the trade and move on to higher office. Some people would spend a life in therapy trying to forgive success and abandonment like that.
But it means that such journalists ignore the attributes of the Prime Minister which are particularly attractive and might be exceptionally well-suited to the times we are now in.
Good and bad things happen to all of us in our lives. We all have a chance daily to store up resentment or positivity. And while the storing up of positive sentiment may be exceptionally hard on occasion, in politics – especially during times of political and economic turbulence – it is crucial. Despondency is not a great look in leadership.
The moment when I saw that there was an unusual type of political leadership in the Prime Minister was back when he was Mayor of London. In 2011, rioting had just broken out in London which spread out across the country. For several nights, Londoners saw the breakdown of law and order as the police failed to intervene and the capital looked very close to chaos. There were all sorts of ways for people in positions of political power to respond to that event, but the most memorable to me came the morning after the rioting began.
As other dour-faced politicians made their pronouncements and commentators predicted the end of civilisation, Boris Johnson appeared in London with a group of citizen volunteers. Armed with a broom he encouraged Londoners to help him clear up the city. It was the sort of thing that would have occurred to almost no other politician — bunkered down as they would be at such a time. But it showed a number of things about Johnson, most important of which was that he continued to have the capacity to make people feel good about things and take part in improving their collective lot, even at the direst moments.
It was one of his most serious demonstrations of political nouse, but it is one which comes from his general character. When Boris managed to turn an ‘unlucky’ incident with a zip wire into something rather joyful and very human, the same unusual quality came across to the public and seemed to bypass many of his journalist critics. It wasn’t hard to see even then that he was different from other political beasts. After all, imagine if Gordon Brown or Theresa May had attempted to go on a zipwire and got stuck half way along it? How would the pictures of them dangling in mid-air have gone down?
Would Gordon Brown have showed a sunny disposition on this occasion? Would he have joked with the crowd about lending him a rope to get down? Would Theresa May have engaged in repartee and badinage? Or might both have hung there fuming at their personal humiliation, wondering who had put them up to this and visibly mulling over who to blame for the lack of zipwire forward-planning?
The misfortune for Boris Johnson’s opponents is not that everything he does is stage-managed, the result of conspiracy or part of some grand political masterplan. The thing they fail to recognise is the fact that whether personal or global problems come bouncing along at him, Johnson reacts to them, as he does to everything in his life, with a generally sunny and upbeat disposition. And whether bad or good things happen to him — hospitalisation or fatherhood — his response to them is not some elaborate ruse or spin.
You cannot fake Johnson’s sort of attitude to life. The Prime Minister’s disposition is such that it allows bad things to bounce off him, and the good things make most reasonable people happy along with him. It’s no wonder the Prime Minister’s opponents feel the stars lining up against them at times. But the fault is in their stars, not his.
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SubscribeA good and welcome piece. My only caveat is to point out that there is nothing ‘august’ about the Economic and The Guardian. One is a sneering, globalist rag that is nothing more than a front for big finance and all its evils, and the other is a sneering, globalist rag that is nothing more than a front for big government and all its evils.
Genuinely fear for the mental well-being of some of the Guardian’s columnists at times. They seem in great pain
Pity the poor lambs. 😉
At least he does not hate us or this country unlike labour, lib Dems etc
Johnson is also a very clever and able man as opposed to some of his Socialist opponents.
Benny from Crossroads was a very clever and able man relative to some of Boris’ Socialist opponents.
I think the other thing that renders him attractive is that he says what he thinks, rather than kowtowing to political correctness. Whatever you think of his veil/letterbox comment, it was his view, as it was his view that the veil should not be banned, and he said it.
And the idea that it was a piece of naive self revelation is itself naive. He must have paused on rereading the draft, aware that he was breaching the PC code, but decided to go with how he saw it.
Again, compare with Gordon Brown’s mic moment.
Thank God we have a more than competent lucky general as prime minister.
As Douglas points out Boris was a fabulous and much loved London mayor and a wonderful ambassador to the world. Compare him to the charisma challenged Sadiq Khan, can you imagine Khan strung up on that wire like a kite caught in a tree and getting away with it like Boris? I am thrilled he recovered from his life threatening bout of Wuflu and send very best wishes and congratulations to him and Carrie for the arrival of their baby boy.
So refreshing to hear your comments and analysis regarding our Prime Minister. In these unique troubling times, it is to his credit that, that Boris has the insight and personal qualities to focus on the trees and not just the wood. I remain optimistic regarding the future of the uk. We have such a broad wealth of talent and coupling this with an intrinsic belief of ‘doing the right thing at the right time’ a bright future lays ahead. We will succeed, no doubt.
As Boris would tell you, the word is nous. Not nouse. It’s ancient Greek, not English slang.
Anyway, good piece.
Good piece Douglas. I am glad to have Boris as our PM and he will lead us through these challenges. Let’s help and get rid of some of the hindrance in the press, civil service and quangos.
I think there is one mistake Johnson’s critics make – they see him playing the fool and think he is a fool!
Boris has a way with people, he makes them do the right thing and be happy about it. He has a way with words, seemingly able to find the right word and the right attitude when it is required and most importantly he is a much deeper thinker that enables him to find a solution to a problem. He is also a much better leader (mayor and PM) than he is a follower (Foreign Secretary).
The Guardian especially but also the Economist, the Indy, etc have underestimated his intellect and they now fume every time he shows just how badly they got it wrong. People like a cleaver man who plays the fool and hate fools who try to play the cleaver man. Boris is the former and journalists who despise him are the latter!
Interesting as always from Mr. Murray but I think it tells us much more about the character of journalists than that of Boris.
It does not matter at all what you think about Boris Johnson, because everyone will rubbish him.. just as they have rubbished every Prime Minister before him, at least in my 70 years on this planet.
Every single one .. think about it!
And the rubbishers are in the main just worms, compared to them. Isn’t it time we all grew up a little?
It’s entirely possible to wish the three of them well and to be pleased that Boris is recovering without changing one’s opinion of his personal qualities or seriousness.
They are still consumed by Brexit. They were secretly comforted by Mark Twain’s, “If voting made a difference, they wouldn’t let us do it.” And then a bunch of people with no O levels blew up their world. And, to make it worse, the coup de grace was administered by a very rich, Old Etonian, zip-wirer, rugby tackler of children, best-selling author and massively highly paid columnist who’d bagged a women twenty years his junior. And then, intolerably, he became a father the week after dodging death from the deadly virus.It’s enough to make anyone accuse two doctors called Nick, and two nurses, plus numerous other NHS staff, of being complicit in a vast conspiracy.
A fine article Douglas.
The more self aware of Johnson’s critics have begun to realise their complaints don’t really cut through with the public.
As such they have moved on to constantly frothing about Dominic Cummings, denouncing him as a copper bottomed psychopath. A fresh line of attack so to speak.
There are numerous other complaints, such as Johnson’s private life, which are all born from the same bubbling spring of resentment.
‘Haters gonna hate’ as young Ms Swift once said.
Yes I would go along with that. His willingness to laugh at and make jokes of himself makes ordinary folk laugh with him not at him. I also admire his ability not to bite back when the lemonsucking hacks: BBC,C4 Sky being the prime front runners try to knock him down.
A fine article Douglas.
The more self aware of Johnson’s critics have begun to realise their complaints don’t really cut through with the public.
As such they have moved on to constantly frothing about Dominic Cummings, denouncing him as a copper bottomed psychopath. A fresh line of attack so to speak.
There are numerous other complaints, such as Johnson’s private life, which are all born from the same bubbling spring of resentment.
‘Haters gonna hate’ as young Ms Swift once said.
When he won the, GE I wondered could he really heal the deep divisions in his own party and the country over BREXIT? It was going to take more than grabbing a broom to sweep the streets after a riot.
What luck – he does not have to. Yes the die hard remoaners are still simmering with anger, but nobody really cares. By the time anyone does, it will be so close to being a done deal, however good or bad it will happen.
I was glued to the 5 O Clock Bo Jo show from the outset – not so much for what was said but because it was a great show. Others started to get a look in, but it was always a poor show compared to Bo Jo. Then disaster! or should I say Dominic. I never really knew much about him, but I now know the less I see of him the happier I am. I warmed to Matt Hancock especially when he started fighting back against the pejorative questions.
Ok Bo Jo is out of hospital but when will he be back? Bo Jo is back at work, but still no Bo Jo show. Bo Jo has become a dad, yet again, ok have the night off. But still no Bo Jo the next day. And finally he is back and he is going to tell us next week what we have been demanding to know all this time and nobody says why can’t you tell us now?
As long as his luck holds and he does not mess up too badly, he could become our longest serving prime minister. Who is going to stop him printing the money he will need to keep the masses on his side? There will be a few die hard monetarists muttering on the back benches about money trees, but vast majority of politicians are only interested in their own ambitions and standing alongside Bo Jo as he sweeps the streets is what will get them re-elected too. What rotten luck for Sir Kier
I agree that the things you say are agreeable about Boris are agreeable. I think what motivates the dislike is that ‘chancer’ bit. Boris doesn’t seem to have much integrity: he changes positions and alliances, always, seemingly, for his own advancement. He doesn’t seem a ‘serious’ person (someone who has a deeply thought out, informed, position on issues) and most of think we need a serious person as PM. People might have been more gracious about his new son, but then, perhaps it’s not so special when it’s the sixth? time (no one seems sure).
Perhaps another way to look at it, Russell, is that the ability (or is it willingness?) to see and understand both sides of an argument is a great gift. His columns, a week apart, setting out convincing, steel-man arguments for leave and remain, no pathetic straw-manning, show authenticity of character and courage and his final position stronger for having been thoroughly examined.
What’s an opinion dictated by ideology, group-think or expediency worth?
but what other UK politicians in recent decades meet your standard of being a ‘serious’ person May? Cameron? Brown? Blair? Major? or broaden your view and tell us in what other Western country such a ‘serious’ person with ‘a deeply thought out, informed position on issues’ has led the government?
A fine eulogy to our dearly beloved leader, Boris Johnson, KS,PM.
He appears like a character from Enid Blyton’s, The Famous Five, stories, perhaps d**k? Alternatively Charles Hamilton’s creation Billy Bunter might be apposite?
One feels he had the correct instinct over this Chinese Death Flu panic; To follow the sound advice of Lord Jonathan Sumption, but was ultimately overwhelmed by the hysterical, doom laden pronouncements of the ‘The Three Witches of Whitehall’, Ferguson, Whitty and Valence.
One also has to wonder how much influence that later day convert to science, Dominic Cummings Esq had over him?
I loved this love letter for the all conquering legend that Boris, hilarious.
Unfortunately his tale is less Greek mythology and more Brazilian telenovela. The cheesy props and manipulations used in this particular drama would make even the most respectable director of the telenovela medium blush with envy.
He is the only person I know in this whole Covid crisis that has cause to celebrate not just for his own life but bringing in a new one into the world. The very NHS he is busy telling us all to keep away from has been at his disposal like it has for no one else in the country.
How awful that we are not cheering for the great leader who shook hands with everyone, even covid 19 patients and then got sick and failed to properly self isolate. How awful that we are not congratulating him on his new born babe, when just days earlier a young mother died in hospital without even seeing her baby.
The problem is not that he is an optimist and has sunny disposition. The problem is that he is an egoist who has very little real care for anyone other than himself. If he had really cared about the people who voted him in to power he would have prepared the NHS and the country at large to face the tsunami that was sweeping through China and then Italy / Spain etc before it hit the shores of the UK. He had plenty of warning.
He is not a leader. Leaders “Serve to Lead”. The good ones lead by working hard to protect and prepare those in their charge as much as possible. They are effective and undemonstrative. They do not lie. They are truthful about the situation and admit mistakes. They work hard to prepare the people in their charge for the challenges ahead. That means strategy, planning, and options to take as the situation develops. He needed to be serious for just once in his life. Political posing and hearty gestures – even if these come naturally and are not manufactured – do not help. This is not a war or a battle where moral fibre may affect the outcome. It is a pandemic disease where techniques, procedures, behaviour and protective equipment save lives. To say that the government did the right thing at the right time is a barefaced lie. He has too many deaths on his hands – he needs to show some humility, be serious and get the situation under control while he still has the remarkable level of support he enjoys.
This is the kind of narrative that sees the state as being an all-seeing all-powerful Magic Fairy type entity, that can cure all social ills if it just applies the correct measures at the right time, within an-overarching rationalistic framework of growing efficiency and perfection. A narrative commonly accommodated by the hard Left, which coincidentally sees the ideal Left-Wing State as being an all-seeing all-powerful Magic Fairy.
Who is this mythical “leader ” you speak of? I have never seen one.