Will It Be Boris Or Michael Or Andrea Or....?

[poliphilo]

I've no idea who- out of the current line-up- would make the most serviceable prime minister- and since no-one's asking me it doesn't matter.

I only note that if the lot falls on Boris Johnson we'll be treated to our most flamboyant PM since Winston Churchill.

People resist the comparison with Churchill because Churchill is "The Greatest Briton Who Ever Lived" and Boris is just Boris. But the truth that the legend obscures is that Churchill's political career- if you set aside the golden patch at the beginning of the war- was largely one of misjudgement and failure. I'm not making a pitch for Boris, I'm just saying you can't judge a person by their record.

We've been hearing a lot about the candidates' drug use: who took what and when and in what quantities, whether they enjoyed it and how sorry they now are. It's all rather silly- and I can't believe the journalists who keep pushing the question really think it matters. Gove took cocaine, Leadsom smoked weed, Boris has probably sampled everything that came his way. This marks them out as adventurous/conformist (it could be either) and entirely typical of their generation. Churchill drank too much. So what?

I'll admit a sneaking regard for Rory Stewart. His looks and manner- part boy scout, part 17th century Spanish saint- suggest that he's a serious person.

Comments

[cmcmck]

I think with Gove, it was the hypocrisy of his writing the usual Tory hang 'em, flog 'em and lock 'em up diatribe about such people to the Times when he was partaking himself!

[poliphilo]

Well, it doesn't look as if he's going to get the job.

[oakmouse]

The whole nonsense about past drug use just makes me roll my eyes. Serious long-term addiction and abuse might be a genuine concern, but a little light, casual use, not so much. Why don't reporters ask about whether these folks started smoking cigarettes while they were under the legal age to buy tobacco? Or ask how often they've run red lights, blocked crosswalks, and parked in a loading zone? Those are crimes of about the same magnitude and importance.

[poliphilo]

I totally agree. I'd like one of the accused to stand up and say, "Yes of course I did drugs. It was fun. But I don't do it now. End of".

[oakmouse]

Exactly. And not try to weasel out of it like Bill "I didn't inhale" Clinton.

[poliphilo]

Oh dear, yes. It's that kind of legalistic hair-splitting that gives politicians a bad name- and Clinton was a serial offender.

[oakmouse]

Yeah, he was the worst. "That depends on what your definition of the word 'is' is."