Boris!
May 31, 2006 9:49 AM   Subscribe

'The crowd was chanting "We want Boris" as he limbered up, waving his arms like a slightly rusty blond helicopter. The cheers grew and the cry of "Boris, Boris" became irresistible.': [text, video]. Boris Johnson, blogger. Boris Johnson, British MP for Henley-on-Thames. Boris Johnson, sozzled buffoon and proud of it. Boris Johnson, the man who made it cool to be Conservative?
posted by hoverboards don't work on water (26 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Go Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson!
posted by matthewr at 9:53 AM on May 31, 2006


Boris Johnson, the man who made it cool to be Conservative?

Much as I am entertained by Boris, no one can ever make it cool to be Conservative, ever. Fact.

He's also a classicist of some note, though his TV programme The Dream Of Rome did come unstuck rather when he apeared to suggest that the EU needed to get itself an Emperor, in order to return to the good old days of world domination.
posted by jack_mo at 9:59 AM on May 31, 2006


It'll take more than one man's affected bumbling to make it cool to be Conservative.
posted by teleskiving at 10:02 AM on May 31, 2006


I still think he was the best 'Have I got news' presenter ever!
posted by homodigitalis at 10:03 AM on May 31, 2006


Boris Johnson rules... I've seen him at the Oxford Union, and he's very smart and engaging. One of the few in politics who seems like he's having fun.
posted by Spacelegoman at 10:12 AM on May 31, 2006


Boris Johnson can never become a successful politician because he is too genuine and has a sense of humour. He is also a bumbling tit who has spent too much time with people like him.
posted by Acey at 10:25 AM on May 31, 2006


'The crowd was chanting "We want Boris" as he limbered up

"Yo Boris, why you wear your pants like that?"

"For (Boris) access, baby..."
posted by stifford at 10:29 AM on May 31, 2006


BJ comes across as a good egg but never in a million years could he make the party of Thatcher anything like cool.
posted by ClanvidHorse at 10:45 AM on May 31, 2006


BJ comes across as a good egg but never in a million years could he make the party of Thatcher anything like cool.

Yeah. Tony Blair and his New Labour have been doing that all by themselves.
posted by three blind mice at 11:05 AM on May 31, 2006


“he knows where his crumpets lie”
Huh?
“...rugged good looks amean him well to voters...”
Wha?
“...until he was sacked for being 'too plummy.'”
Der?

Jeez, you Brits should really learn to speak English.

I don’t know what conservative means across the puddle, but in the U.S. ‘cool’ and ‘conservative’ tend to be antithetical (except for brief “Huey Lewis” periods when it’s hip to be square).
posted by Smedleyman at 11:14 AM on May 31, 2006


I don’t know what conservative means across the puddle, but in the U.S. ‘cool’ and ‘conservative’ tend to be antithetical

BJ is conservative with a capital C, which in practice is somewhere to the left of the Democratic Party in the US. But your average voter doesn't give a damn about actual political philosophy; they just latch onto whoever is popular or good looking. And Boris Johnson is popular.

(Oh who am I kidding? He's hawt.)
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 11:24 AM on May 31, 2006


He's an appalling figure and quite frankly shows why the Tories are still not fit to hold office. I don't know what's worse - his inability to engage sensibly with his job as shadow HE minister or Cameron's obvious disdain for higher education letting him be in charge of the portfolio.

It's not so much that he's having fun, it's that he's having a joke and the joke's on us.
posted by patricio at 11:56 AM on May 31, 2006


I'm with patricio. He's just another posh twat. (Boris Johnson, not patricio.)
posted by MrMustard at 12:49 PM on May 31, 2006


He's so posh, even when he's supposed to be playing football, he plays 'rugger' [YouTube link I'm afraid].
posted by MrMustard at 12:59 PM on May 31, 2006


Erm, the same YouTube link that's in the FPP evidently. Nothing to see here. Move along...
posted by MrMustard at 1:00 PM on May 31, 2006


“Terrible outbreak of afternoon kipping in Henley. Always in their dressing gowns, hard at it.”

Good enough for me, how do I get UK citizenship so I can vote for this sackapotatos?
posted by Divine_Wino at 1:02 PM on May 31, 2006


(Boris Johnson, not patricio.)
:)
posted by Flashman at 2:11 PM on May 31, 2006


He was exactly like he is now in his teens, you know.
posted by Hogshead at 4:19 PM on May 31, 2006


really? They say I've improved...

oh, I see what you mean.
posted by patricio at 4:20 PM on May 31, 2006


Boris is a comedy god.

I don't know whether or not it's an act, but when it's this good who cares?
posted by kaemaril at 4:45 PM on May 31, 2006


In an effort to maintain relations with our dear friends in the colonies, I thought I'd help out.

“he knows where his crumpets lie”

Crumpets are a form of tea-cake, usually toasted and buttered. Not to be confused with 'a nice bit of crumpet' - a sexy woman (or man). An alternative phrase would be 'he knows which side his bread is buttered'

“...rugged good looks amean him well to voters...”

He's a male nice bit of crumpet, and the voters like that.

“...until he was sacked for being 'too plummy.'”

He talks posh, like BBC news readers or the evil-twin version of George W Bush.

Jeez, you Brits should really learn to speak English.

Steady on my good chap. We did invent the lingo you know, we reserve the right to colour it up a bit. Damned Yanks...
posted by ArkhanJG at 5:45 PM on May 31, 2006


Bah! The Man of Steel was the man who made it cool to be Conservative!!!

;)
posted by uncanny hengeman at 6:15 PM on May 31, 2006


Churchill and Macmillan were cool as cucumbers
posted by matteo at 10:35 PM on May 31, 2006


Why has no one said it? Well, I will.

You Brits really should start electing charming, buffoonish, bumbling conservatives who shrug off the typical stern out-of-it-ness of their parties with a wink, a smile, and a funny little sound-bite. I mean, we did it over here in los Estados Unidos, and look where the hell it got us.
posted by koeselitz at 10:51 PM on May 31, 2006


While he's comedy gold, I don't want him anywhere near the levers of power. The man's a refugee from a P.G. Wodehouse novel. He truly is the buffoons' buffoon.
posted by PurpleJack at 2:02 AM on June 1, 2006


I approve of this post.
You are cheeky teenager to my Bus Uncle.
Peace & Love,

Boris.
posted by Boris Johnson at 10:23 AM on June 1, 2006


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