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© Thomson Reuters 2022.Boris Johnson returns to UK in bid for rapid political comeback
By Andrew MacAskill and Muvija M LONDON©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
60 Comments
Yrral
Pathetic British
kurisupisu
The UK will soon be back in capable hands again…
momoclo
And if Johnson doesn't cut the mustard you're bringing back Truss?
Mark
Lovely.
Alan Harrison
Pathetic British
Innovative British.
Mark
Mr. Johnson is such a charismatic leader, Love his back pack, wonder what's in it beside the passport? LOL
Politik Kills
Unbelievable. It’s like Trump running in ‘24.
Mark
Mission Possible I say.
u_s__reamer
Mr. Johnson is such a charismatic leader, Love his back pack, wonder what's in it beside the passport? LOL
After a six-week Caribbean vacation what's left of his first $100,000+ cash payment gifted annually to ex-PMs skimmed from taxes taken out of the pockets of hard-working families perhaps? And a nice little earner it is for Truss, too, after only 6 useless weeks floundering around in the job. Maybe wannabe Winston came back in the greedy hope of doubling his money? Sunak should see him off this time, but you can never underestimate the stupidity spawned by the boundless greed of venal Tory politicians.
Rodney
traces of coke was found in his parliamentary toilet, so that might be a clue…
Stephen Chin
What? OMG! The former funny star fellow of the United Kingdom's Cirque du Soliel is back? And will be jumping from swinging swing to swing
swinging way up above the heads of his audience? With his signature hair choreogaphed to dance a ballet on his crown while he swings from swinging swing to swing swinging? And will he be as full of funfilled fantasy as his formerly frenzied clowny self ? Confident enough not to fall to the sawdust a second time?
obladi
If the Brits elect Johnson again, they truly deserve the consequences. And yet, I can't help but feel sorry for them.
wallace
Sunak has more than 100 backers, Johnson less. If only one person has more than 100 backers tomorrow they will automatically become the new PM. Two people and there will be a vote.
Alan Harrison
If the Brits elect Johnson again, they truly deserve the consequences. And yet, I can't help but feel sorry for them.
The new conservative party leader is selected by party members, and not the general population.
Mr Kipling
obladi....
The Brits get no say in this, only the Conservative party. First the M.P.s and then the rank and file party members. If Penny Mordaunt can get the 100 M.Ps to put her on the ballot then I predict she will be the next Prime Minister. The party members voting from home are old, very white, a little "old fashioned" in that they won't want an Indian as Prime Minister. Which is what happened last time.
Tiger
So the muppet returns eh?
Desert Tortoise
More like Cirque du Egout. The UK needs to hold parliamentary elections. The current governing party has no credibility with anyone but a few libertarian goofballs at this point.
Desert Tortoise
He's the kind of shambling slob that if you didn't know who he was and he showed up at your front door you'd probably lock the door, slide a heavy piece of furniture in front of it and call the police, then call your neighbors and tell them to hurry and bring their kids inside,
M3M3M3
Now is the time for King Charles to dissolve parliament and call a general election.
Sven
The economic war isn't akin to the Battle of Stalingrad. It's more like Operation Bagration in that Russia is routing the imperialist powers.
painkiller
Time for the UK to scrap their current government system and come up with something sustainable.
Axel
That's right. Some doddering, inbred reactionary who hasn't won a vote in his life has the power to dissolve parliament in this "democracy".
wallace
All leaders of UK political parties are elected in similar ways.
Labour Party Leader Election
To qualify for the ballot, candidates needed nominations from 10 per cent (22) of the party's Members of Parliament (MPs). Followed by support from either 5 per cent (33) of Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs), or from at least three affiliated groups, including two trade unions and representing at least 5 per cent of affiliated members.
More voters are involved with the leader of the Labour Party about 800,000 people can vote. In the 2020 leadership election, which Keir Starmer won, there was a 490,731 (62.58%) voter turnout.
Conservative Party Leader Election
In the July election, Liz Truss won. She received 113 (31.6%) of the conservative MPs' ballot while Rushi Sunak received 137 (38.3%) of the MPs' ballot.
With the membership vote, Liz Truss received 81,326 (57.4%) of the votes and Rushi Sunak 60,399 (42.6%). 100% voter turnout.
New Conservative Party Leader Election
A single candidate with at least 100 MP votes by tomorrow will become the new leader. Two or more there will be a membership vote.
lincolnman
So BoJo may stage a comeback and get another try.....
One thing's for sure, it won't translate back to the US where we have a similar former idiot President who was defeated in humiliation and is now the subject of three separate criminal investigations and over twenty civil suits....and will soon get an orange jumpsuit to match his orange spray tan and orange hair dye...
wallace
painkiller
You mean like the American system for electing presidents. Two years and vast sums and in the end, the American people do not decide who won.
itsonlyrocknroll
If both Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak reach the required 100 parliamentary MP's endorsement, the membership will need to ask themselves just one question.
I am willing to put the country first?
Then vote for Rishi Sunak.
Sunak is better qualified to make what is going to be some of the toughest decisions a Prime Minster has ever made.
Decisions fiscal/monetary that will be very painful for the electorate to swallow/bear.
This could make Rishi Sunak very unpopular indeed.
It is doubtful such decisions will win Rishi Sunak government the next election.
This country does not need Boris Johnsons the populist right now.
This new leadership process indicates what could lie ahead.
The necessity to install a new PM before 31st October, November 3rd is of national importance.
wallace
The Tories will lose the next general election regardless of who will be the leader. The question is how many seats will they lose?
kohakuebisu
Johnson has been on holiday since July 7. Parliament has been sitting for a decent chunk of that time. Johnson is still an elected MP, a job is he paid to do to represent his constituents.
N. Knight
That fat clown will further wreck the economy & destroy the Tory party if he gets back in.
GBR48
Boris has his fans but is also widely hated now, something he will not enjoy.
If he replaces himself after being kicked out for ethics violations, Truss being little more than holiday cover, it makes a mockery of the political system. Labour could engineer a general election out of that, but may not be competent enough. They failed to capitalise on the fracking vote - they should have said that they would ban it on day 1 of their regime, with no compensation, undermining Tory policy. They have enough of a lead in the polls to do that in most areas, but don't function well enough to exploit these weaknesses.
Most senior Tories recognise that Boris returning will signal the beginning of the end of the Tories as a mainstream party, so he will face more internal push back this time. They have far more to lose now, as Brexit has failed, is causing widespread damage and has Tory stamped all over it. They need to distance the party from Boris or it will sink with him.
N. Knight
couple of kilos of Charlie, most likely.
Jimizo
Yep. Has been taking the p##s since he was thrown out as PM. Clearly being a lowly backbencher isn’t fun for him. Hope he sticks around for the next General Election and is thrown out completely.
Sunak now 2/7 to win this. Some claiming the Johnson camp are inflating their numbers and are being asked to show the names. Comedy turns like Rees-Mogg and Nadine Dorries are obviously on board.
A recent poll has just 7% of under 50s planning to vote Tory at the next election. I’m not sure if this means the demise of the Tories as a party, but these numbers are shocking.
Sh1mon M4sada
Source? In any case it was Sunak that organised the covid party, and what's the link between bankers and coke?
BoJo is still stupid for putting himself through the wringer one more time. Better go hide all the kitchen knives Boris.
lucabrasi
I don’t like Tories on principle; Johnson is a nasty piece of work. But his economic ideas seem that tiny bit more rational and compassionate than Truss’s extreme nonsense. For the sake of the most unfortunate in UK society, his re-emergence might just be seen as a good thing….
Yrral
Liz Truss get 100k for life ,for a six week gig Sign me up
wallace
Yrral
Does not work out like that. Ex-PM can claim £115,000 per year for expenses not related to parliament or private costs.
There is also a severance payment, which amounts to a one-off payment of 25% of the annual salary for the post that ministers have left.
Pensions
Holders of three so-called Great Offices of State, namely prime minister, speaker of the Commons and Lord Chancellor, are no longer provided with a pension of half their final salary on leaving office, regardless of length of service.
Instead, they now join all ministers in the Ministerial Pension Scheme, a contributory defined-benefit scheme part of the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund.
https://www.mypcpfpension.co.uk/active-members/
Ms Truss first became a minister in 2012.
All former US presidents are entitled to a $2,30,000 allowance along with perks like Secret Service protection.
Sh1mon M4sada
Yes the Tories didn't like the fact Boris wanted to win votes from the people, because they were more interested in how the Lords would act.
Pukey2
It's become an absolute freakshow, rivalled only by USA.
wallace
All ex-PMs can claim £115,000 per year in expenses but not for parliament or private activities.
Johnson was in the parliament since Truss became PM.
M3M3M3
Yes, but given that a general election would follow, how is it undemocratic? The public no longer support the Conservatives, regardless of whether Johnson or Sunak become leader. The polls are clear. Another Tory leadership election is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Especially in this time of crisis.
Simon Foston
Sh1mon M4sadaToday 10:44 am JST
What? His fans in the party keep going on about how he's the only leading Tory who can connect with ordinary voters.
Huh? The Lords? What are you talking about?
starpunk
No, Bozo. Just. No. Go away and stay away.
Blacklabel
UK prime minister?
nah let’s post about Trump here too.
itsonlyrocknroll
M3, might be wiser to avoid a drawn out general election right now, a spending review followed by expected interest rate rise. has been announced.
A more politically unified approach may be needed.
The energy industry is preparing for a winter of possible blackouts.
The war in Ukraine has exposed the deep flaws to energy policy,
Europe as a whole, took for granted energy security becoming frivolous may I suggest criminally negligent.
Inflation also has a hold. Er have strikes and civil unrest.
It also pains me to suggest Putin could well succeed in this dreadful conflict if European unity were to eventually colipase and push for Ukraine capitulation and hand over sovereign territory.
In both Paris and Berlin resolve is waning, at least privately.
My Grandfather wrote the other day, the younger generation don't have the stomach to fight or stand up to tyrants, he lamented what did his loved ones and colleagues/brothers in arms really die for?
wallace
The Tories are very fearful of holding a general election which they would lose like never before.
TokyoLiving
The funniest part of the UK circus is coming..
The dirty imperialism of their dark times is taking its toll on them..
itsonlyrocknroll
Time has run out.
A form of unity government may be required.
There will need to be total agreement as to how to prepare the people for the squeeze/fall in living standards, the inevitable spending cuts affecting the most vulnerable/poorest on benefits in society, possible mortgage defaults.
Taxes could rise across the board.
Most worryingly energy poverty.
Jimizo
People have been talking about the 1997 Tory collapse. No poll has the Tories doing anywhere near as well that.
Quite a few are asking if Labour would do any better but I think the electorate wants to punish the Tories. Anybody but them seems to be the mentality. I have generally voted Labour but can anyone say Labour are that impressive? I’d go with not awful or nuts.
That’s good enough at the moment.
lincolnman
Former head of state, thrown out in humiliation, attempt comeback while still hated....
I guess some people just don't get parallels....
ROFL...
wallace
After ten years of wanton destruction it’s time for a change.
Like Dylan says,
”Ring those bells!”
nero
Gotta love JT readers who say why doesn't Japan be more like Britain.
PTownsend
Though I agree that the US and UK politics have long been messy, As an individual, I still prefer that messiness to having zero choice and being stuck with a warmongering dictator like China and Russia have, or a system like Saudi Arabia and the UAE have. It's not surprising that countries like Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and others have used westsrn media and their influences to affect US politics and make them even messier, and it's not surprising that they have backed someone like Trump and his Republican sect who are intent on further dividing and weakening the US.
Simon Foston
TokyoLivingToday 11:46 am JST
This has everything to do with the British government's management of the country and the economy over the past decade, and the way a couple of hundred thousand people get to choose the leader of the government right at the moment, and nothing whatsoever to do with "imperialism" or any such nonsense.
Blacklabel
So is there still a “parallel”when Johnson gets his job back?
Simon Foston
neroToday 01:00 pm JST
In Britain there is at least the possibility of a party other than the Conservatives winning a landslide majority. Japan is stuck with the LDP.
Sh1mon M4sada
Even BoJo though hasn't finalised his honours list yet, reportedly Truss has drawn hers up despite being PM for only 45 days. Hard not to read between the lines here, add fracking and NI...
Alan Harrison
The Brits get no say in this, only the Conservative party. First the M.P.s and then the rank and file party members. If Penny Mordaunt can get the 100 M.Ps to put her on the ballot then I predict she will be the next Prime Minister. The party members voting from home are old, very white, a little "old fashioned" in that they won't want an Indian as Prime Minister. Which is what happened last time.
Well, right now it seems as if Mr.Sunak will be the only contender to qualify. Comment, very out of touch, perhaps you have been in Japan too long and no longer make exceedingly good cake.
wallace
The political party leaders in the UK are elected by their party’s and their members.
In Canada, the prime minister is elected the same way. In Australia and New Zealand. Japan is the same.
In countries with presidents they choose the prime minister.
Anyone got a better way?