Boris johnson

For weeks there have been reports of simmering tensions between Theresa May’s three Brexiteers. After the Prime Minister appointed David Davis as the Brexit Secretary, Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary and Liam Fox as the International Trade Secretary, the group have developed a rivalry over who does what. In particular, Fox is thought to be butting heads with Johnson. After he sent a letter to Johnson demanding that the Foreign Office be broken up and hand certain responsibilities to his department he was accused of attempting a ‘land grab’. While that bid failed, another land grab appears to have found greater success. In an interview with a US radio show last month, Fox

When it was reported that Liam Fox and Boris Johnson are already squabbling about who should be in charge of what in relation to Brexit, this was taken by some to be a feather in Theresa May’s cap. Isn’t she clever to have set Leavers against one another, was the thought. Downing Street sources were quoted as saying that she took a dim view of these silly games. But if it is true that Cabinet ministers are already at loggerheads about their roles, might that not suggest that the Prime Minister who invented these roles — and entire new government departments — has not properly defined them? Certainly the short-term

Boris Johnson has spent his adult life being underestimated and sneered at. But today’s attack by Tim Farron, the leader of what remains of the Liberal Democrats, rather takes the biscuit. Today it emerged that, with Theresa May in Switzerland and Philip Hammond out of the country, Boris is running the British government. So Farron pipes up to say: Putting Boris Johnson in charge of the country is like putting the Chuckle Brothers in charge of Newsnight. Still, at least if he’s here, he’s not in Rio offending everyone he meets – and there’s always Larry the cat to stop him doing anything silly. But Boris Johnson is arguably more qualified than anyone in any

Brits sometimes think that ‘personality politics’ is a bad thing. Jeremy Corbyn has certainly suggested as much; just before he won the Labour leadership last September, he dismissed the concept as juvenile and egoistic. Instead, he said: ‘We are not doing celebrity, personality or abusive politics – this is about hope.’ But although Corbyn has stuck to that belief, he’s wrong – and a big part of his problem is not realising that. While some say the idea of personality politics is an American import, in reality Brits have been doing it for decades. Take Harold Wilson’s advisers planting hecklers at TV hustings so the Labour leader could deploy his best put-down lines. That was in

Although George Osborne was passed over for the role of Foreign Secretary in Theresa May’s Cabinet reshuffle, the MP for Tatton is still keen to show that he can fly the flag for Brexit Britain. It follows that the former Chancellor of the Exchequer is set to be guest of honour at Tina Brown’s Brexit bash in New York this week. According to Page Six, Osborne will join the top hack — and one time Remain-er — for a dinner which aims to show that the ‘special relationship’ can survive Brexit. With New York journalists perceiving this as Osborne’s attempt to ‘drum up trade with the US in the wake of his

Chevening, the stately home in Kent henceforth to be shared by David Davis, Liam Fox and Boris Johnson — and in a manner which hopefully provides the inspiration for at least one West End play — is a lovely house. I was last there 20 years ago when my father, as Foreign Secretary, had the use of the place. I had a ponytail at the time, and dressed like a hobo. My strongest lasting memory is of two policemen with sub–machine guns catching me smoking a rollie behind a bush. My next strongest is of my first trip there, in the hot, hot late summer of 1995. We wandered the

Fresh from banging his head on the door of Downing Street, John Kerry has just been speaking at a press conference alongside Boris. But it wasn’t the US Secretary of State coming to blows during the heated Q and A session at the Foreign Office. John Kerry might be heading home tomorrow, but most of the eyes – and the barbs being flung from the audience of gathered journalists – were aimed squarely at one man: Boris. American journalists in London for Kerry’s visit appeared to see it as their sole opportunity to hammer the Foreign Secretary – and they certainly tried their best to make the most of it. There was

After a bit of initial drama involving an emergency plane landing, Boris Johnson is in Brussels. There’s been a lot of social media chatter about why Boris is the wrong choice for Foreign Secretary and how he’s going to embarrass Britain in his new role. Some are quoting Boris’ past articles to prove he is only going to upset those he meets on the world stage – and Boris’ prize-winning President Erdogan poem in the Spectator has also gathered much interest. But for all those worrying about the ‘damage’ Boris is going to do, look instead to the huge interest in his debut at the EU summit to see why

Following last night’s terror attack in Nice which left over 80 dead, the Union Jack and the Tricolore are at half mast in Downing Street. Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, has issued a short statement confirming that there will be ministerial meetings today to discuss the implications. He went on to say that the attacks — which have left at least one British national injured — represent a continuing threat to Britain and the rest of Europe. He emphasised that countries must unite to tackle this together: ‘Our thoughts are very much with the people of France and Nice, an absolutely appalling incident. If this is a terrorist incident as

It’s not a great day to be an ambitious Tory who attended a private school — let alone Eton. After Theresa May promised to work to build a society with a focus on helping the working class rather than the rich, she has started by implementing this approach in her Cabinet. George Osborne, Nicky Morgan, Theresa Villiers and Oliver Letwin are among the privately-educated politicians to face the axe today. Meanwhile, the majority of the high profile briefs have gone to state school educated politicians. Alongside May, the Chancellor — Philip Hammond — and the Justice Secretary — Liz Truss  — attended a state school. Meanwhile Justine Greening has made history by becoming the