Bye Bye Boris
A number of the Conservative Party front bench have earned the disdain of party members by failing to gain any publicity whatever. Boris Johnson does not fall in that category.
The trouble with Boris is that, as Shadow Arts Minister, he has managed to gain marvellous quantities of media coverage, almost all of it negative.
Virtually nothing he has done has moved debate on the Arts in the right direction, or any direction for that matter.
As more than one of us on Dodgeblogium have observed, the man has become an embarrassment.
Boris Johnson’s removal is well overdue.
At time of writing, the Sunday newspapers have not yet arrived at Wolfie’s lair, so I have no idea which particular aspect of Boris Johnson’s private life has become public knowledge. Short of criminal activity, an MP’s private life should not be a consideration in deciding whether or not they are given a position of responsibility. Their effectiveness in the role, on the other hand, is of pivotal importance.
Boris Johnson was a replacement for the lovely Julie Kirkbride MP, who as a recent mother , had found the time demands of being a front bench spokesman more than she could bear. Howard told her that if she could not stand the heat, she could jolly well get back to the kitchen sink.
Boris Johnson was the wrong choice to be the spokesman on Arts for the Conservatives. As a regular presenter on programmes such as ‘Have I got News for You’, he is on the payroll of the BBC. As such, we could hardly expect any challenge to the status quo in broadcasting, the BBC license fee , BBC political bias, and so on. Another aspect of broadcasting policy that requires some serious attention is the way that the UK’s radio broadcasting licences are rationed by the state. This has lead to a stifling restriction of choice for listeners. For example, there are very few local heavy metal radio stations and no national ones on analogue radio.
In an area that requires radical changes, a mop-haired buffoon simply will not do.
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