Express & Star comment: Is crowd-pleaser Boris really the answer?
Gosh. Boris in Downing Street.
It tells you a lot about the regard in which modern politicians are held that the answer to all the complex issues the country is facing is, according to ordinary Conservative Party members, Boris Johnson.
Not so long ago a politician who had had what might euphemistically be called ups and downs to the extent that Mr Johnson has had ups and downs would have been disqualified from any serious consideration for the highest office. And yet Boris has landed.
As the House of Commons bade farewell to Theresa May in her last PMQs, opposition MPs took the opportunity to express their horror at her successor.
There may have been previous Prime Ministers who have arrived amid such ill-will and open distaste from political opponents, but at least in modern times it is difficult to think of any.
Politically, the landscape is full of obstacles. The mathematics of the Commons makes Boris’ promise to deliver Brexit on time look optimistic.
And yet, he has things going for him. The very fact of his election, by a group of people who are stereotypically considered older folk, and conservative with a lower case as well as a capital, signals a readiness to try a new way, and accept somebody with flaws and foibles who can nevertheless bring special qualities to the table.
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Boris is a showman, a motivator, and a campaigner. He has the ability of being a crowd pleaser, a politician reviled by fellow politicians but who connects with many ordinary people.
While Theresa May brought diligence, dignity, and attention to detail, Boris Johnson brings those very human things which make you want to laugh or want to cry.
It is as if the Tory members have concluded that, with modern politics paralysed by the Brexit conundrum and the Commons functionally useless as a forum for finding a way forward, the time has come to play a wild card because, how much worse can things be?
Boris now faces the task of uniting his party. Forget that if he pursues a no-deal Brexit. And uniting the country. A tall order when nearly half voted against Brexit.
He also needs to break free of the Brexit vortex to address areas of concern in our patch, and around the country.
His appeal to many is beyond doubt. His ability to deliver is about to be put to the test.
