“Johnson is … the most accomplished liar in public life – perhaps the best liar ever to serve as prime minister,” he said. “He has mastered the use of error, omission, exaggeration, diminution, equ

trisher

It's an interesting article, but doesn't say much more than I already know about Johnson. It isn't the lies that so much bother me, I've just accepted them, it's the uncritical attitude of British media I find disturbing. For instance Brexit- lemon has posted that he got Brexit done. Well he did, but not really because he left the huge question of N.Ireland unresolved, but the press seem happy to disregard that. His other cock ups seem to be similarly ignored, almost as if the right wing press don't want anyone to think badly of him.

Good post.

Alegrias1

You think?

Well given he's Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and got there even though he was an adopted baby and his dad ran a fish gutting business, I think he's done pretty well for himself. That's the closest he's going to get to an endorsement from me.

He has done very well for himself indeed, he’s extremely intelligent, articulate and does have some charm ( according to articles I’ve read) but would never be voted for as Leader of the Conservative Party, in my view.He would have made a far better PM than Johnson.
Rory Stewart held a Ministerial position, but had no chance if becoming Leader or of London Mayor.
John Major wasn’t good looking but was a Mr Average.
For those who think looks shouldn’t matter in any area of life, they are dead right, but unfortunately looks and charm open doors.Johnson was quite good looking when younger (and now is Mr Average) but has charm and that ‘hail fellow well met’ aura that stand politicians in good stead.
Sorry to derail your thread Monica but it seemed posters didn’t understand ( or want to understand?) why Rory Stewart
Failed in politics.

It's an interesting article as far as it goes; I read it ages ago when it was first published (thanks to twitter). It's a shame that the whole of Stewart's article, of which only bits are being quoted here is in the TLS and behind a pay wall.

???Stewart didn’t fail, he resigned from the Tory party because he quite rightly understood that it was no longer the Tory party he joined.

There are plenty of really good people out there of the same ilk as Stewart all watching with horror from the sidelines.

Their day will come.

lemongrove

Alegrias1

You think?

Well given he's Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and got there even though he was an adopted baby and his dad ran a fish gutting business, I think he's done pretty well for himself. That's the closest he's going to get to an endorsement from me.

He has done very well for himself indeed, he’s extremely intelligent, articulate and does have some charm ( according to articles I’ve read) but would never be voted for as Leader of the Conservative Party, in my view.He would have made a far better PM than Johnson.
Rory Stewart held a Ministerial position, but had no chance if becoming Leader or of London Mayor.
John Major wasn’t good looking but was a Mr Average.
For those who think looks shouldn’t matter in any area of life, they are dead right, but unfortunately looks and charm open doors.Johnson was quite good looking when younger (and now is Mr Average) but has charm and that ‘hail fellow well met’ aura that stand politicians in good stead.
Sorry to derail your thread Monica but it seemed posters didn’t understand ( or want to understand?) why Rory Stewart
Failed in politics.

Clearly 'Failed in Politics' because of people like you, and other posters on this thread, lemon. Politics as a beauty contest is not very edifying...

Just meant to add, he failed because of his looks and hubris.
He would never have made the top job but could have continued to serve as a Minister.

More wilful misunderstanding eh MaizieD

lemongrove

Just meant to add, he failed because of his looks and hubris.
He would never have made the top job but could have continued to serve as a Minister.

????

What would you call ( if not hubris) Stewart not getting either the position of Leader or Major of London ?
Leaving his constituency in the lurch and then quitting politics.

I've just read the article and think that it's an accurate description of Johnson. Thank yo for the link.

Infinity2 One of the problems with the LP during the later part of the last century was that they did not realise that the lives of people had moved on. Most people had better health and homes than previous generations and there were many job opportunities. It became possible for people from ordinary backgrounds to achieve more than previous generations dreamed about. Home ownership grew from about 1/3 owner occupier immediately before WW2, stagnated during the 50s and then reached 73% by 2007. The percentage subsequently declined to around 65%.

Owning ones home was seen as a "step up" for many people and part of that change to their lives meant voting Tory. I think that Blair recognised this, hence the change in LP policies. Sadly, IMO, he went too far.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

You said it Dinah the LP still fails to recognise that times have changed....they are dinosaurs and are shedding votes all over the place.

I've always liked Rory since I heard his marvellous speech in the House of Commons about hedgehogs.

Would have made a good leader of the party in my opinion. Not just based on the hedgehog speech, of course. He's an excellent orator. And doesn't waffle.

www.indy100.com/offbeat/rory-stewart-hedgehogs-speech-video-commons-tory-leadership-race-8962336

Message deleted by Gransnet. Quotes deleted post

Message deleted by Gransnet. Quotes deleted post

Thank you M0nica. As someone who would identify themselves as centre-left, I have a lot of time for Rory Stewart. However, he does still say things that surprise me and is often more "conservative" than I would find comfortable.

But the point is, he is still Conservative. He is most certainly not one of the sado-populists of Johnson's New Tories. Many on the centre-right will not agree with Johnson but have much in common with other centrists. However, so far they have not spoken out.

Let's hope this is the start of people seeing Johnson for what he is. In the era Johnson seems to want to have been part of he would have been called a cad and a bounder. In today's world, we can see just how much worse than that he is. He is prepared to cause hurt to groups of people in order to get votes from other groups. Sadly, some of those who cheer him for this are just as cruel and unthinking as he is.

lemongrove

Just meant to add, he failed because of his looks and hubris.
He would never have made the top job but could have continued to serve as a Minister.

We really are doomed, aren't we?

Well educated man, speaks 11(?) languages, ran a chunk of a country that was in the midst of war, declined to run again as an MP because of the direction the government was taking, dropped out of the Mayoral race because of lack of funds to compete against the established parties. Now a lecturer at Yale. Oh, and he's half Scottish and he might have been a spy, but he won't tell. And he resigned from the Bullingdon Club because of the behaviour of other members.

What a failure

Oh I wish he'd come back. Maybe he will. Fingers crossed.

Zoejory

I've always liked Rory since I heard his marvellous speech in the House of Commons about hedgehogs.

Would have made a good leader of the party in my opinion. Not just based on the hedgehog speech, of course. He's an excellent orator. And doesn't waffle.

www.indy100.com/offbeat/rory-stewart-hedgehogs-speech-video-commons-tory-leadership-race-8962336

He likes to listen and learn too, Zoejory. A good asset in a politician.

I heard him speak in a debate once, on a topic he clearly didn't know much about, maybe he was a last minute stand-in. The other speakers did know a lot. He didn't bluster but listened to what they had to say and had a proper debate with them.

I think he's "proper" Tory and I don't agree with all his views (fox-hunting for instance) but he has a conscience.

I think he is a proper conservative too Alegrias but not one out of the history books, he is someone who understands, or wants to understand today's issues. I agree with him on the introduction of Citizen's Assemblies.

I think he is a proper conservative too Alegrias but not one out of the history books, he is someone who understands, or wants to understand today's issues. I agree with him on the introduction of Citizen's Assemblies.

Sorry about the repeat. I lost GN for some reason.

Aleg...classic misdirection on your part there.He hasn’t failed in life, he has failed in politics.All the resigning from things that he did perhaps shows that he hasn’t the stomach for a political life and is happier out of it ( sniping from the sidelines). That’s fine by me.
Gove has had an uphill fight ( another Scot but one with more of a feisty attitude) and is another very intelligent man.
It’s ok to disagree ( that’s what forums are for, agreements and disagreements) can’t help wondering though how many would be ooohing and aaahing over Stewart if he hadn’t been doing a hatchet job on Johnson.
Instead of always pulling out of things he dislikes, Stewart would have done better to stay and improve all areas in politics that he had any influence on, in both his constituency and in his Party and in Parliament IMHO.

Instead of always pulling out of things he dislikes,

Don't rise to it Alegrias, don't rise to it.

You think he would have had any influence on the politics of this government Lemongrove? He had the whip removed in 2019 for trying to influence the government, and was told he could no longer stand as a Conservative.

Maybe he should just have done what he was told. Or maybe not.