Who is Boris Johnson?

Boris Johnson

“A colorful character, known for his shock of shaggy blond hair and blustering, entertaining, flamboyant style, Boris Johnson [b. 1964] has had one of the most amazing careers in English politics. A journalist, magazine editor, member of Parliament, the conservative who did the impossible in getting elected mayor of London twice, foreign minister, leader of the radical Brexit movement to leave the European Union, he’s done it all. Johnson’s a celebrity. He clowns around and quotes long passages of Homer in Greek. ‘BoJo,’ as he’s sometimes called, is England’s Donald Trump. Both came to office already famous. Both were international celebrities. Both were known for saying outlandish things, poking the politically correct and infuriating their political opponents. Sometimes infuriating their own party. As of July 24th, that is, when he became the new prime minister of the United Kingdom. He takes office with an unstable razor-thin majority, with many members of his own party opposing him. He’s taken up the almost impossible task of getting the U.K. out of the European Union by October 31st.  Johnson’s election represents his party’s commitment to completing Brexit and leaving the European Union. It expresses the party’s rejection of the European Union globalists, including those in the other major political parties, Labour and the Liberal Democrats. It is part of a broader trend around the world electing conservatives as world leaders. The London Times fired him for making up a quote. He moved on to the more conservative Daily Telegraph. Still, he became the favorite journalist of conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. His writings became a key influence on the Eurosceptic UK Independence Party in the early 1990s. That party’s agitation eventually led to Brexit. He took some left-leaning positions, however, on climate change, LGBT issues and race relations. He became editor of The Spectator, the UK’s top conservative weekly. Tabloids revealed in 2004 that Johnson was having an affair with Spectator columnist Petronella Wyatt, resulting in two abortions. He was married to his second wife at the time. He was fired from his position with the Conservative party for lying about the affair. Another affair led to a child. Johnson became the mayor of London in 2008, the first Conservative to ever achieve that position. He ran on a campaign that included legalizing medical marijuana and allowing amnesty for illegal immigrants. When Theresa May became Prime Minister, she appointed him Foreign Secretary in 2016. As Foreign Secretary, Johnson praised U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as a ‘moment of opportunity’ for peace. In a controversial 2018 article for The Daily Telegraph, he discussed the Danish face veil ban. While he opposed a ban on the burqa or niqab, he suggested that such garments make the wearer resemble a ‘letter box’ and ‘bank robber.’ Johnson was baptized a Catholic. He was later confirmed in the Church of England. However, he says ‘his faith comes and goes.’ He’s not a serious practicing Christian.”

“Who Is Boris Johnson,” The Stream, July 31, 2019

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