Allegedly concerned by the fearsome oratory abilities of the Mayor, the Conservatives have only granted Boris the minimal 3 – 3.15 Sunday slot at the Party Conference. In only fifteen minutes, he is to ‘outline his vision for the capital’s future‘.
The Mirror quotes a source as saying:
“He will not be the darling of the conference. There will only be one star of the show and that’s going to be David Cameron.”
Scurrilous bickerings aside, it is an odd decision. Boris’s victory was surely the most impressive achievement in the Conservative’s calender, and one would have assumed that ample time would be allocated to discussion of events in the “petri dish“. It’s not as if there haven’t been events worth talking about…
Tags: Tories10 Comments
10 responses so far ↓
If true that’s an astounding slap in the face – let’s face it, Boris would have to bugger the lifeless corpse of Margaret Thatcher while singing the Red Flag not to get a standing ovation just by appearing on stage. London gets 15 minutes, Birmingham gets 80. Something very odd here, is that really Johnson’s only appearance?
Compare and contrast this story from the 2001 conference:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk_politics/2001/conferences_2001/conservatives/1589154.stm
I can’t see anything else, although he may have been bumped on the fringe…which would probably be more insulting.
Depending upon how long the ovation is, he may not have to say a word.
If you discount the humming, hawing, Latin drivelling and “hilarious” jibes, that gives him approximately 30 seconds of speech. Assuming he’s made it onto the platform in the first place.
Fifteen Minutes! We’ve been conned.
Don’t forget the minute or so of him working out where to put his hands. In the pockets? Behind the back? Whatever is one meant to do on these occasions?
Let’s play Boris Bingo when he’s on the podium. Draw up a grid with things like “Stalinist”, Latin phrase, touch of the hair, reference to Ken Livingstone, etc. and see who can cross the most off in just 15 minutes. A full house probably wouldn’t be as challenging as it should be in the limited time available. Unless you put ‘clear vision and concrete policies for the next 3½ years in London’, of course.
“Let’s play Boris Bingo when he’s on the podium.”
Hehe, good idea.
Boris Bingo: when Boris appears on television, you take a drink. You then keep drinking until you forget he’s the mayor.
Hehe, very good.
Alex – given the well known ban on Boris boozing during the campaign, there’s got to be a chance of the man himself trying that trick if he loses any more appointees…
[...] he continue to marginalise Boris when the Mayor remains his most prominent media figure, or will he be forced to grant him a [...]