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Brutal attack on Boris Johnson from his former boss

October 10, 2012 8:57 am

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“Most politicians are ambitious and ruthless, but Boris is a gold medal egomaniac. I would not trust him with my wife nor — from painful experience — with my wallet. It is unnecessary to take any moral view about his almost crazed infidelities, but it is hard to believe that any man so conspicuously incapable of controlling his own libido is fit to be trusted with controlling the country. His chaotic public persona is not an act — he is, indeed, manically disorganised about everything except his own image management. He is also a far more ruthless, and frankly nastier, figure than the public appreciates.”

Read the whole article – this quote is only the half of it…

AlanGiles

Two points:

1) For balance while “Labour” supporters were tearing into Livingstone in print earlier this year, what a pity Mr Hastings didn’t publish his article then

and

2): I think this critique sums up what I and many others really believe (from the above article):-

“We no longer look for dignity,
gravitas, decency or seriousness of purpose in our leaders in any field.
We demand only stardust, a jolly turn in front of Simon Cowell or on
Strictly Come Dancing.

I
knew quite a few of the generation of British politicians who started
their careers in 1945 — the likes of Roy Jenkins, Denis Healey, Edward
Heath, Enoch Powell, Iain Macleod.

The
common denominator among them all, whatever their party, was that they
entered politics passionately believing they could change things. They
were serious people.”

As Mr Hastings goes on to say, now the common desire seems to be to sit at the top table.
- Dave Postles
  
  We’ve lost the humility that was engendered by those times.
  - aracataca
    
    Correct Dave- but is losing humility a bad thing?
    - AlanGiles
      
      ” but is losing humility a bad thing?”
      
      Bill, a dictionary definition of humility:
      
      “modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance, rank, etc.” *
      
      Are you saying we want politicians and their sycophants to over-rate their own importance?. In which case it is presumably acceptable for Andrew Mitchell to tell a policeman that he “has to learn his place” and call him a “pleb”. And, by extension, it is perfectly acceptable for a bibulous press secretary to concoct a dossier based on a 12 year old PHd thesis to justify the country going to war.
      
      Back in the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s there wasn’t really a political class. All the men and women going into politics did so with a lot of experience of the real world. They may have been to Oxbridge, but they had been involved in industry, commerce, and many had seen service in the war, which made them the more determined to prevent us getting into unwinnable wars. These days a great number have known nothing but “politics” and one or two trade on their relatives names and their connections, but they have never done a real days work in their lives – except perhaps a part-time job behind the student bar.
      
      Modesty isn’t a vice, but a virtue
      
      * Source: http://www.dictionary.com
- http://twitter.com/waterwards dave stone
  
  “while “Labour” supporters were tearing into Livingstone”
  
  The truly sad part of Johnson’s speech yesterday came when he described how the Conservatives were united in the campaign to elect him as Mayor of London.
  
  The Labour Party members who broke ranks while under fire and became pin-ups for the Tory campaign should be ashamed of themselves.
- Brumanuensis
  
  Healey did appear in Christmas pantomimes on TV, during the ’70s and Roy Jenkins did love the good life – ‘more socialite than socialist’, as Harold Wilson put it. Ted Heath’s conducting and sailing antics were done with an eye for publicity too. Powell was deadly serious, but then Powell was a bit of a nutter frankly, given that he spent much of his later life talking about how he wished he’d died during the Second World War.
  
  So I suppose whilst the level of modern-day trivia is more pervasive, politicians have never been above trying to sprinkle a little star dust upon themselves.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Homfray/510980099 Mike Homfray

Ouch.

This doesn’t surprise me. The Mail will be wanting Michael Gove to succeed Cameron. Dacre would be very disapproving of Johnson’s libertine personal life (though to be fair he isn’t a hypocrite and doesn’t try and pretend to be Mr Family Man)
http://twitter.com/waterwards dave stone

“so conspicuously incapable of controlling his own libido”

Goodness! The thought of the wheezing windbag on the job is an affront to the nobility of humankind.

However, re succession, my money’s still on Liam Fox and at 33/1 I’d say it’s definitely worth a tenner.
Chilbaldi

Boris will not succeed Cameron. His flame is burning too brightly at present, beyond his control. He has a national profile. The public will be sick of him when his time comes around. He will be the Hesseltine of his Tory generation.

For future Tory leaders, look to other cabinet members or even the class of 2010. I would love Gove – he’d be an awful leader and unpalatable for most of the country.
Brumanuensis

I agree with Chilbaldi. ‘He who wields the dagger, seldom wears the crown’ and for that reason, Boris is indeed the new Heseltine – and no where near as intelligent as Hezza.
MarkLathamUK

Interesting that Bojo thanked Ken Livingstone from the platform for his contribution to the Olympics – he was absent in body and got not even a namecheck from our Manchester platform.

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