Zip-wire calamity to wild rugby tackles: The comedic face of Boris Johnson

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Zip-wire calamity to wild rugby tackles: The comedic face of Boris Johnson

 

FILE PHOTO: London's Mayor Boris Johnson collides with 10-year-old Toki Sekiguchi during a game of Street Rugby with a group of Tokyo children, outside the Tokyo Square Gardens building October 15, 2015. REUTERS/Issei Kato

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Dangling helplessly from a zip-wire while waving British Union Jack flags, Boris Johnson and his attempt to publicise a party in one of London’s parks became one of the most memorable non-sporting moments of the 2012 Olympic Games.

 

“It’s going well ... Get me a ladder,” the portly then-London Mayor jovially shouted as the crowds below laughed along after he became stuck.

 

For most politicians, such a turn of events would be an humiliating embarrassment that could overshadow their careers. For the man famed for his mop of unruly blond hair and expected to be named as Britain’s next prime minister on Tuesday, it was par for the course.

 

Johnson, 55, has made a point of turning run-of-the-mill publicity events into a comedic adventure thanks to a large helping of upper-class English eccentricity, a trait that has made him popular with many Britons who see him as the antithesis of drab political rivals.

 

He came to wider public attention with his star turns on the BBC’s popular satirical TV quiz show “Have I Got News For You” and his gift for humour comes naturally.

 

Whether it is kissing fish in a visit to Essex in eastern England or knocking a 10-year-old boy flying during an impromptu game of rugby during a trip to Japan in 2015, Johnson’s antics and undiplomatic behaviour have tended merely to enhance his reputation.

 

“My friends we export French knickers to France, French knickers made in this country,” he told a delighted audience during the 2016 campaign ahead of the referendum on whether to leave the European Union.

 

Other famous photos that might have sunk a more conventional politician included wearing a string of sausages round his neck to promote new business in northern England and grimacing furiously during a game of tennis using an old wooden racquet.

 

That ability to entertain his fans could now propel him into Downing Street.

 

Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Stephen Addison

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-07-22

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[fishtank]

Just what we need for PM at a time of national crisis.

A third rate comedian!

[vogie]

The boy is obviously trying to trip Boris up and has his fist clenched ready to attack Boris, the boy should have immediately been sent to the sin bin.

 

[fishtank]

1 minute ago, vogie said:

The boy is obviously trying to trip Boris up and has his fist clenched ready to attack Boris, the boy should have immediately been sent to the sin bin.

 

Boris does not need any help to trip himself up.

He is doing a pretty good job of that himself.

[vogie]

4 minutes ago, fishtank said:

Boris does not need any help to trip himself up.

He is doing a pretty good job of that himself.

But still looks likely of landing the top job in the UK, didn't trip up there did he.

Is it the thought of Boris being the most likely to take us out of the EU that causes you to dislike him so.

[transam]

15 minutes ago, fishtank said:

Just what we need for PM at a time of national crisis.

A third rate comedian!

Folk like you want the normal looks of a stuffed puppet MP, when an MP comes out of his box for a bit of fun folk like you are THERE to point out "He should be like the rest"........But Boris is not like the rest, sadly you are like the rest...

[evadgib]

He even has a Shaguar ????

[fishtank]

Probably the shortest premiership on record.

General election coming soon.

 

[VocalNeal]

There are some cultures that are too stuck up and any sign of fun or frivolity are shunned. Fortunately Britian is not one of them. 

[fishtank]

1 minute ago, VocalNeal said:

There are some cultures that are too stuck up and any sign of fun or frivolity are shunned. Fortunately Britian is not one of them. 

Being good at the job might help him.

Judging by the mess he made at the Foreign Office things are not looking good on that front.

[evadgib]

1 hour ago, fishtank said:

Being good at the job might help him.

Judging by the mess he made at the Foreign Office things are not looking good on that front.

Londoners loved him as Mayor & so did the Country, RotW after he secured & delivered the Olympics.

[JonnyF]

1 hour ago, fishtank said:

Being good at the job might help him.

Judging by the mess he made at the Foreign Office things are not looking good on that front.

He hasn't even started yet, at least give him a chance.

 

This is just more biased rubbish from Reuters. If he was anti-Brexit/Pro EU they'd be fawning all over him. However, he's Pro Brexit so they write Tabloid rubbish like this to try to discredit him before he's even started. They are as bad as The Guardian.

[evadgib]

6 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

He hasn't even started yet, at least give him a chance.

 

This is just more biased rubbish from Reuters. If he was anti-Brexit/Pro EU they'd be fawning all over him. However, he's Pro Brexit so they write Tabloid rubbish like this to try to discredit him before he's even started. They are as bad as The Guardian.

The Mogg has just Rhubarbed the hosts of GMB who tried very hard to trip him up and failed spectacularly.... as usual ????

[Bluespunk]

38 minutes ago, evadgib said:

Londoners loved him as Mayor & so did the Country, RotW after he secured & delivered the Olympics.

Ken Livingstone was mayor when the Olympics were secured in 2005...

[transam]

9 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Ken Livingstone was mayor when the Olympics were secured in 2005...

And he came a close second to the now rubbish M of L...

[canopus1969]

2 hours ago, fishtank said:

Just what we need for PM at a time of national crisis.

A third rate comedian!

Agreed but fortunately for the UK he will make a 1st Class PM and get us out of the cesspit called the EU

[Laughing Gravy]

More tripe before Boris Johnson is elected as Prime Minister. If anyone ones the life of Winston Churchill and the 'howlers' he committed then you would see quite a comparison.

[Bluespunk]

22 minutes ago, transam said:

And he came a close second to the now rubbish M of L...

And how does that relate to my purely factual post?

[sammieuk1]

After he wrote the poem the wankra from Ankara he was made foreign secretary now PM after the lying bus last week he tried to take the EU to task over kippers and was shot down in fish flames now by the end of the week he will have the Trident codes and you think it mad here what a grade "A" cluster <deleted> joke the UK is in???? 

[transam]

2 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

And how does that relate to my purely factual post?

It doesn't, I just stated a fact....

[Bluespunk]

35 minutes ago, transam said:

It doesn't, I just stated a fact....

Opinion 

[Orton Rd]

3 hours ago, fishtank said:

Just what we need for PM at a time of national crisis.

A third rate comedian!

Don't fall for the MSM smears, he is no fool and could not possibly be worse then the useless PM he's replacing.

[Thairealist]

38 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Opinion 

 

 

Very nice to have an opinion from you a non Brit. However it will be far more relevant,how the British people judge him at the polls.

[evadgib]

2 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

Ken Livingstone was mayor when the Olympics were secured in 2005...

Wow

I must have been dazzled by his use of a Bus during the 2008 closing ceremony in Bejing.

[fishtank]

2 hours ago, canopus1969 said:

Agreed but fortunately for the UK he will make a 1st Class PM and get us out of the cesspit called the EU

The same way he got Nazanine Zaghari Ratcliffe out of Iran?

He will probably keep UK in EU for another few years.

Hopefully.

[fishtank]

1 hour ago, Orton Rd said:

Don't fall for the MSM smears, he is no fool and could not possibly be worse then the useless PM he's replacing.

I would not be so sure on that.

Resignations of tory ministers are already coming in.

Man of unity?

[vogie]

4 minutes ago, fishtank said:

I would not be so sure on that.

Resignations of tory ministers are already coming in.

Man of unity?

Resignations, they are jumping before being pushed, Alan Duncan the man who gloated about fiddling his expenses will certainly not be missed nor will Philip Hammond.

[Boon Mee]

5 hours ago, fishtank said:

Just what we need for PM at a time of national crisis.

A third rate comedian!

BoJo is still the smartest individual in the room. 

The UK doesn't need a reincarnation Neville Chamberlin 

[fishtank]

10 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

BoJo is still the smartest individual in the room. 

The UK doesn't need a reincarnation Neville Chamberlin 

Try telling Nazanine Zaghari Ratcliffe that.

[Baerboxer]

29 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

BoJo is still the smartest individual in the room. 

The UK doesn't need a reincarnation Neville Chamberlin 

 

No they don't need another Chamberlain. Nor do we need another CoCo the Clown! But we're going to get one.