The former mayor of London is never one to shy away from a photo opportunity.
As Boris Johnson is announced as the next leader of the Conservative Party, we take a look at some of his previous highlights. – No, not the lie on the bus. Or the mad thing about building buses as a hobby.
No not snearing that Liverpool has a victim culture after Hillsborough.
Nor calling migrants who “leech, bludge and scrounge” off taxpayers; or Ugandans “piccaninnies”—a racist word notoriously used by the Tory MP Enoch Powell in his ‘rivers of blood’ speech against immigration.
Johnson likens Chinese workers to “puffing coolies” and he even favours a return to colonial rule for Africa: “Left to their own devices,” Johnson has proclaimed, “the natives would rely on nothing but the instant carbohydrate gratification of the plantain.”
Not accusing Nelson Mandela of moving Africa towards a “tyranny of black majority rule” after Apartheid. Or using his column in the Spectator to claim that the Stephen Lawrence inquiry was a “witch-hunt” against the police…
We ‘ll have a look at the photographic highlights of the giant man baby that is actually our Prime Minister:
Perhaps the best visual metaphor ever for the new PM’s showy vows that he could do better renegotiating the Brexit he cynically championed to win over the Tory right: Mr Johnson was left hanging in mid-air after he got stuck on a zipwire at a 2012 Olympic event at Victoria Park in the capital – trying to hijack and claim credit for the Olympics during his time as London Mayor where colleagues fretted about his lack of attention and grasp. (Ben Kendall/PA)Donning a pair of fishing waders to help plant flowers at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew (Stefan Rousseau/PA)“Where are the sunny uplands of Brexit?” Trying out an Oculus virtual reality headset at Google’s offices in Israel (Stefan Rousseau/PA)“People voted for ME?” After winning the Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat on election night 2015 (Andrew Matthews/PA)
He’s also a keen proponent of sport – often pictured riding his bicycle, and seldom shies away from picking up a bat or a ball.
Ali G In Da XXXX: Boris Johnson on an early morning jog in 2004 after he was sacked from the shadow cabinet by Tory party leader Michael Howard, after revelations about his private life which he had lied about to his party were published in a tabloid newspaper (Chris Young/PA)Er – wrong sport, wrong ball – Mr Johnson forces a rugby tackle on German footballer Maurizio Gaudino during a legends match in Reading in 2006 (Rebecca Naden/PA)“This isn’t whiff whaff?” Promoting a sports participation initiative outside County Hall in London in 2008 (Tim Ireland/PA)Blithely knocking children over in a visual reminder of the lack of care that caused white hairs at the Foreign Office when he was Britain’s top diplomat bizarrely. During a street rugby tournament in Tokyo with school children to mark Japan hosting the 2019 Rugby World Cup (Stefan Rousseau/PA)Johnson has a soft spot with Londoners after being Mayor of London (John Stillwell/PA)
But there is always time in a busy politician’s schedule for some light refreshments.
We are sure Boris Johnson will manage to keep the United Kingdom together as effortlessly as he is eating this ice cream in event of a no-deal Brexit. Barry, South Wales during the leadership campaign (Frank Augstein/PA)August 2018 and Boris Johnson is trying his best to undermine his party leader and race relations with comments about “letterbox” burkhas – but look he’s made an effort for the press to drink outside his house in Thame in August 2018 (Aaron Chown/PA)“Do I look as normal as Nigel Farage?” Pouring a pint during the Vote Leave Brexit campaign in St Austell (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
Boris Johnson is Britain’s Prime Minister – but for how long? click here
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