“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

Brilliant PippaZ

MaizieD

He's popular because he has intelligence, integrity and is competent.

I think you are expecting a lot for that to appeal to anyone who thinks Johnson is fit to be PM

Yes of course Lucca....that’ll be all it is.?

Stewart is not dead. He hasn't "failed" in anything.

Stewart called Johnson out as "... most accomplished liar in public life". Why would anyone who believes that to be true not be glad that someone is bringing it to the attention of others?

The subhead of the article in the TLS is "Boris Johnson: an amoral figure for a bleak, coarse culture". We so often see that culture played out on these boards. We need more conservatives speaking out against Johnson and the rest of the sado-populist New Tories. Johnson, Sunak, Raab, Patel and the rest are without an ounce of empathy or the most basic understanding of what life is like for those without the guilding they are used to. It is not what I want to see in my country. So yes, I support what he is saying.

However, I have heard him talk on many subjects (including Hedgehogs ). He 'thinks'. Johnson finds that almost impossible. Yes, he can repeat what he has learned in the past, But he buys in his tacticians - or marries them. His only aim is to see himself "win". There is little beyond that. He will hurt whatever group he needs to keep his voters - some of them with pretty vile beliefs - onboard.

Yesterday in the Observer:

Another YouGov survey for the Times yesterday showed that the Tory lead had fallen to just four points from 13 points during the past week. Other trends are clear in most of the polls. The public’s confidence in Johnson’s government to handle the pandemic and in the prime minister’s leadership abilities, which had been boosted by the vaccination rollout, are all spiralling downwards.

Opinium found that net approval of the government’s handling of the pandemic now stands at -16%, the lowest since the height of the second wave in January. Johnson’s own approval rating has fallen from -8 a fortnight ago to -13 now, with 34% approving of the way he is doing his job and 47% disapproving.

So perhaps people are more aware of Johnson’s inaptitude and lies

He's popular because he has intelligence, integrity and is competent.

lemongrove

So...to recap, he is highly popular on this thread because he dislikes Johnson. Any Tory who disliked Johnson or disliked leaving the EU is often popular on GN ( or rather with non Conservative voters.)
Even ‘Demonic’ Cummings is popular now.It figures I suppose.?

He’s popular because he expresses himself beautifully and calls Johnson out for what he is.

lemongrove

So...to recap, he is highly popular on this thread because he dislikes Johnson. Any Tory who disliked Johnson or disliked leaving the EU is often popular on GN ( or rather with non Conservative voters.)
Even ‘Demonic’ Cummings is popular now.It figures I suppose.?

No he is highly popular because he hates what the Tory party has become.

A populist divisive entity, that will support a leader totally without integrity or competence.

So...to recap, he is highly popular on this thread because he dislikes Johnson. Any Tory who disliked Johnson or disliked leaving the EU is often popular on GN ( or rather with non Conservative voters.)
Even ‘Demonic’ Cummings is popular now.It figures I suppose.?

I agree with everything Stewart says, but what most drew my attention to this article was the sheer quality of the English and the erudition of his political invective.

I do really enjoy reading material by people with a command of everything the English language offers.

The para I am constantly drawn to is the one that was truncated for some reason at the start of this thread

Johnson is the most accomplished liar in public life – perhaps the best liar ever to serve as prime minister. He has mastered the use of error, omission, exaggeration, diminution, equivocation and flat denial. He has perfected casuistry, circumlocution, false equivalence and false analogy. He is equally adept at the ironic jest, the fib and the grand lie; the weasel word and the half-truth; the hyperbolic lie, the obvious lie, and the bullshit lie – which may inadvertently be true.

How wonderful to be able to write like that - and when he is describing someone I dislike for just the reason that he is a lying t***, it is a joy to read, I roll the words around my mouth.

So few political commentators now come even within a country mile of that quality of invective.

Whitewavemark2

???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.

Absolutely. He left because he had said he could never remain in a party that Johnson was leader of. He left because he has principles and he stuck by them. And of course his constituents were disappointed. Who wouldn’t be if you’d lost someone who was a great constituency MP. Anna Soubry felt the same way about Johnson and has also written articles to that effect.

The reason that Stewart got nowhere in the London Mayoral race is that he didn't have a Party Machine behind him. Or a very wealthy backer. These are essential in the higher levels of the political hierarchy these days. You can only succeed as an Independent at very local level; parish or county councillor.

He was a good Minister; only got thrown out of the tory party because he didn't back Johnson. One of the very few tories I have ever had time for.

lemongrove

Yes, Gove suffers for the same reason Aleg ...which is why he has no chance ever of becoming PM.

Not the only reason…. Being a weasel goes against him.

Stewart, like many others of high calibre and integrity do not have the stomach for the type of politics the current Tory party represents.

They are almost certainly aware of the cabal both inside and outside parliament that runs the Tory party, and do not like what they see.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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