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Boris Johnson’s Secret Australian Weapon

Few were aware of it, but Boris Johnson’s election win was guaranteed months ago following a brutal Australian intervention.

Hey hey hey, ho ho ho, Peter Fitz has got to go
Hey hey hey, ho ho ho, Peter Fitz has got to go

Few were aware of it, but Boris Johnson’s election win was guaranteed months ago following a brutal Australian intervention.

Behold cursemaster Peter FitzSimons writing Boris off back in July:

Can he also solve the intractable problem of Brexit, and come up with a solution that the whole country will get behind, with the blessing of the European Union?

It simply will not happen. And the problem is not just Johnson’s self-confessed gadabout nature, rushing from thing to thing rather than fierce focus on one thing and getting it right. 

Peter, of course, is an expert at maintaining a singular focus and getting things right. It's his signature move.

What it needs, of course, is strong political leadership to find a way through to embrace consensus politics a la Bob Hawke. Could Boris Johnson achieve that? I can’t find anyone from either side who thinks he can.

He is simply the last one left standing in the midst of a complete and utter debacle. Winston Churchill he ain’t, and quite possibly not even Mrs Thatcher’s bootlace.

Subsequently:

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will retain power with a thumping majority after his Conservative Party secured its best election result since 1987 ...

At victory celebrations in central London, Johnson told an audience that the country will now leave the EU on January 31.

“We will get Brexit done on time by the 31st of January, no ifs, no buts, no maybes,” he said.

And there we go. Jeremy Corbyn’s friends aren’t happy about it:

Several hundred noisy protesters marched through central London to protest against the election result, disrupting traffic and chanting "Boris Johnson: Not My Prime Minister" and "Boris, Boris, Boris: Out, Out, Out".

Socialists against democracy
Socialists against democracy

Met Police confirmed one arrest for criminal damage to a police vehicle had been made following ugly scenes in Trafalgar Square.

Officers were seen struggling to contain the crowd as they protested the British vote that saw almost 14 million people vote for Mr Johnson's government.

Sorry, kids. Once FitzSimons delivered his verdict, your boy was doomed.

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair/boris-johnsons-secret-australian-weapon/news-story/4b5cbfc220fe9e6d1e2610878a703c12