Boris Johnson in 100 Facts

Eugene L. Wolfe

• Publisher: Amberley Publishing
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781398103450
• Edition: 0
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

'This is a market on our doorstep, ready for further exploitation by British firms. The membership fee seems rather small for all that access. Why are we so determined to turn our back on it?' Boris Johnson The existential tension of a book of 100 facts about Boris Johnson is the man's relationship to facts. The product of Britain's top schools, he clearly knows better. But he has thrived less through displays of a hard-won and formidable erudition than by shading, exaggerating, or outright misstating the truth. Although he idolizes Winston Churchill, he has much more in common with US President Donald Trump. By creating a brand, a shtick, a persona, BoJo has transformed himself from a disgraced journalist into the most popular politician in Britain. Known for introducing Boris Bikes and Boris Buses while Mayor of London, Johnson's most lasting legacy is likely to stem from his creation of Boris Facts, assertions of verisimilitude instead of veracity. By propagating these quasi-truths, an Old Etonian who had spent years living abroad managed to become, improbably, a champion of Little England, a motive force behind Brexit, and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His story, like the man himself, is fascinating, hilarious – and scarcely believable.

Table of contents

• Cover
• 1. Born an unlikely Brexit champion
• 2. Boris is an Old Etonian
• 3. Boris took a gap year in Australia
• 4. Boris studied Classics at Oxford
• 5. Boris was a member of the notorious Bullingdon Club
• 6. Boris was elected President of the Oxford Union
• 7. Boris married Allegra Mostyn-Owen in 1987
• 8. Boris was fired from The Times for inventing a quote
• 9. Boris was hired by The Daily Telegraph
• 10. The Telegraph sent Boris to Brussels
• 11. Boris married Marina Wheeler in 1993
• 12. Boris tried to help a friend assault a nosy journalist
• 13. Boris became a television star
• 14. Boris lost his first parliamentary election
• 15. Boris was appointed editor of The Spectator in 1999
• 16. Boris is a Biffer
• 17. Boris did not sack Taki, repeatedly
• 18. Boris was beguiled by buxom bunnies
• 19. Boris was elected MP for Henley in 2001
• 20. Boris wrote a book about becoming MP for Henley in 2001
• 21. Boris is a ‘cringing sycophant’
• 22. Boris was involved in a row over the Queen Mother’s funeral
• 23. Boris’s Spectator named Tony Blair 2002 Parliamentarian of the Year
• 24. Boris was battered by buns but the eggs missed
• 25. Boris Cares about Birds (and Goats and Pigs)
• 26. Boris long has played the ‘anti-politician’
• 27. Boris bikes
• 28. Boris was mocked as an ‘occasional’ MP
• 29. Boris became a shadow minister
• 30. Boris wrote a motoring column for GQ
• 31. Boris was nominated for a Bafta Award
• 32. Boris biked into a Labour Brouhaha
• 33. Boris supported the impeachment of Tony Blair
• 34. Boris is cool (and fun and witty)
• 35. Boris wrote the novel Seventy-Two Virgins in 2004
• 36. Boris apologised to Liverpool
• 37. Boris is highly ambitious, but tries to hide it
• 38. Boris often thinks with his Johnson
• 39. Boris had a four-year affair with Petronella Wyatt
• 40. Boris was sacked from the Tory frontbench for lying about the affair
• 41. Boris generates drama
• 42. Boris ‘the idiot’ held Henley in the 2005 General Election
• 43. Boris supported David Cameron for the Tory leadership
• 44. Boris resigned as editor of The Spectator in late 2005
• 45. Boris became shadow higher education minister
• 46. Boris was nominated to be Rector of the University of Edinburgh
• 47. Boris is a tackling dummy
• 48. Boris has a way with words
• 49. Boris was not sacked for another alleged affair
• 50. Boris got into a ‘food fight’ with David Cameron
• 51. Boris dreamt of Rome
• 52. Boris championed ancient history
• 53. Boris insulted other places
• 54. Boris wrote The Perils of Pushy Parents in 2007
• 55. Boris for Mayor?
• 56. Boris gets a makeover
• 57. Boris was elected Mayor of London
• 58. The new Mayor faced a steep learning curve
• 59. Boris’s Chinese whispers
• 60. Boris earns ‘chicken feed’
• 61. Boris escapes censure for another affair
• 62. Boris was implicated in controversy over the arrest of MP Damian Green
• 63. Boris was accused of cronyism
• 64. Boris became a ‘knight on a shining bicycle’
• 65. Boris the Builder
• 66. Johnson commissions Boris Bikes
• 67. Boris introduced a new Routemaster bus
• 68. Boris supports Law and Order
• 69. Boris (mostly) likes bankers
• 70. Boris was re-elected Mayor of London in 2012
• 71. Boris was criticised for ties to Jennifer Arcuri
• 72. Boris hijacked the Olympics
• 73. Boris Irked Irish and Malaysians
• 74. Boris claimed cars drove female suffrage
• 75. Boris calls London Assembly, Labour MPs, ‘invertebrate jellies’
• 76. Boris traded jibes with Nick Clegg
• 77. Boris wrote The Churchill Factor
• 78. Boris’s views of Donald Trump evolved
• 79. Boris could have been President of the United States
• 80. Boris returned to Parliament in 2015
• 81. Boris backed Brexit: cui bono?
• 82. Boris gets Turkish President’s goat
• 83. Boris was appointed Foreign Secretary
• 84. Boris was undiplomatic as Foreign Secretary (hold the front page)
• 85. Boris resigned as Foreign Secretary in July 2018
• 86. Boris was forced to apologise to Parliament
• 87. Boris was criticised for sex-abuse comments
• 88. Boris provoked ‘open civil war’ among Tories over Brexit plan
• 89. Boris and second wife filed for divorce
• 90. Boris bashes burkas
• 91. Boris was bitten by press watchdog over Brexit claim
• 92. Boris becomes Prime Minister
• 93. Boris asks Queen to prorogue Parliament
• 94. Boris purges moderate Tories
• 95. Boris requested Brexit extension
• 96. Boris changes mind on Irish border
• 97. Boris calls an early election, on fourth try
• 98. Boris wins big in 2019 General Election
• 99. Boris ‘gets Brexit done,’ right?
• 100. Boris Johnson’s rise was largely built on lies