Anyone understand why Johnson is so far ahead in the polls?

sorry Urm I hadn't read your post so I sound like I'm just repeating you which isn't so!

Galaxy

Vaccine bounce.

Yes, it is like a game of ping pong with Boris!

So much discussion on the cost of refurbishing PMs flat - so can I remind people of Lord Falconer? Handed a flat by his close friend Tony Blair, despite already owning property in London, which cost the tax payer approx. £175,000 to maintain and also spent £30,000 of tax payers money to redecorate it.

Boris is more popular because people don't think the Labour party are a believable alternative

Urmstongran

Ooh this is better approval so far for Boris than I thought he’d get! About 50/50 so far.
😊
Mind you, won’t be long before the usual suspects come along to tip the balance with their forensic knowledge of everything political....

Why such sneering ?

I just find it all so unpatriotic. That the values of Britain are it's ok for Johnson to do this because once someone else also did something dishonest. That the values of Britain are now dishonesty because well look at his funny hair.

Definitely vaccine bounce.

Maybe folks are looking at other Countries and thinking that the U.K. is finally coming out of the Covid nightmare.

If they are reading financial papers, there are positive stories out there regarding upturn in car production , house sales, new investments in U.K. manufacturing along with predictions of growth.

Folks are just not concerned with cash for curtains. I know I have used the phrase I would rather stick pins in my eyes and other suchlike, which obviously I would not do. In my opinion that is maybe how they view the alleged phrase Boris Johnson used in a moment of stress and frustration?

No leader worldwide has come out of the pandering without making mistakes even the New Zealand PM had her detractors at home!

*pandering - pandemic grr!!

The opposition parties are weak so not much choice.

Galaxy

I just find it all so unpatriotic. That the values of Britain are it's ok for Johnson to do this because once someone else also did something dishonest. That the values of Britain are now dishonesty because well look at his funny hair.

Except Boris didn't use tax payers money

Lucca I do apologise.
My comment was meant to sound more of a rallying to the troops on here who read but do not post because half a dozen politically minded souls intimidate them. That’s such a shame really.

I just think it would be lovely if other Boris fans felt brave enough to say why they like him - it would make a refreshing change and nicer to read.

These threads often just turn into a heated Boris bash-fest and I’m sure the vitriol puts people off!

The Labour Party is still trying to recover from the gloom and division of its Corbyn years. Such an unpleasant man who sneered at and looked down on anyone who disagreed with him. I’m not sure Starmer has the charisma to pull it together. I wish he had. We need a decent opposition.
Johnson has many faults but most people now want and need some optimism in their lives and he does deliver that at least.

Haven't we always been told that politicians lie?

I don't think Labour or the media is doing themselves any favours with this.

I can't speak for all people but it appears that the majority don't really care about wallpaper and furnishings.

We've had a rough year and many people have lost loved ones, been ill, suffered with mental issues etc etc

All this concern about wallpaper may be hugely important on GN but I don't hear it anywhere else.

So true Urms unfortunately the political threads are beginning to sound like an echo chamber with many posters not bothering to post anymore or even for the first time.

Ellianne

sorry Urm I hadn't read your post so I sound like I'm just repeating you which isn't so!

Ellianne 👍

Urmstongran

Lucca I do apologise.
My comment was meant to sound more of a rallying to the troops on here who read but do not post because half a dozen politically minded souls intimidate them. That’s such a shame really.

I just think it would be lovely if other Boris fans felt brave enough to say why they like him - it would make a refreshing change and nicer to read.

These threads often just turn into a heated Boris bash-fest and I’m sure the vitriol puts people off!

Oh dear. So Boris supporters are the good kind posters while any others are bullies.

Coming from someone who supported Trump, the ultimate bully.........interesting.

GrannyGravy13

So true Urms unfortunately the political threads are beginning to sound like an echo chamber with many posters not bothering to post anymore or even for the first time.

Totally agree GG13 👍
Echo chamber sums it up nicely. These threads would be far more interesting to read if they were kinder and had a better balance of opinions. Sometimes they are not for the faint hearted.

Oh dear. So Boris supporters are the good kind posters while any others are bullies

If the cap fits Lucca who are we to disagree?
😊

But it isn’t just about wallpaper is it?

It is dead bodies and billions to cronies and being hopeless at PMQs and lying to the Northern Irish and looking like something the cat brought in, and seemingly clueless and breaking the law and lying all the time and not caring about child poverty the list goes on and on.

I have come to loathe the word kind. It had basically come to mean please shut up.

It's the fact that people keep saying that nobody cares about curtains. And they're right. Nobody cares about curtains. People should care about the fact that our PM is potentially seeking and hiding donations that could be construed as bribes.

And imagine, we come on the Politics threads armed with facts and evidence. If that intimidates you, then maybe you have the answer to why nobody cares about corruption in politics. Because you think what's important is Boris's sense of humour and what a good lad he is.

It’s not about the bloody wallpaper and curtain is it ? It’s about allegedly breaking the law and lying. It’s profoundly depressing imo that many people don’t care about such fundamental values as truth, integrity and respect for the rule of law. He’s popular for many reasons ( and always has been amongst a certain type of person) but obvs the vaccine bounce atm is crucial plus the proverbial light is in sight at the end of the tunnel. Summer is coming. None of this means he’s not the most morally bankrupt leader this country has probably ever had in modern history.

Crossed posts

But it isn’t just about wallpaper is it?

The wallpaper has grown legs but of course, you're right.

There are many people who are concerned about everything you mention, Whitewavemark2

But for whatever reason, Labour aren't gaining ground when you would think they would.

Most countries have struggled with the pandemic. Clearly it's not all Boris's fault.

I believe that he's still riding high in the polls because Kier doesn't come across well at all.

However, as we know, polls often get things wrong.

The so-called vaccine bounce is due largely to having the courage to appoint Kate Bingham, as a previous poster had said, to oversee to procurement and delivery of the programme. She was brilliant, got on with the job in a pragmatic way, taking on board all advice but having the courage to just get on with it regardless. Jonathon Van Tam and, dare I say it, Matt Hancock, were pretty involved too. Government by committee, as in the EU, simply failed its people in this regard.

These polls have often shown themselves to be wildly inaccurate so I don't treat them as gospel truth. Give Boris enough rope and he will hang himself.