Politics
Liam O'Dell
Jun 16, 2023
content.jwplatform.com
In one of the more predictable political moments in recent weeks, former prime minister Boris Johnson has been unveiled as the Daily Mail’s new columnist, less than 24 hours after the paper teased an “erudite” new writer whose writing will be “required reading”.
While some might contest the word “erudite”, many correctly predicted that the scruffy-haired silhouette on the front page of Thursday’s edition of the Mail was that of Mr Johnson, who continues to face the fallout over a report by the Commons’ Privileges Committee which found he deliberately misled MPs over Partygate and was “complicit” in a “campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation” of the group of MPs.
It also recommended that Mr Johnson – who announced his resignation as the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip last week ahead of the report’s publication – be blocked from receiving a parliamentary pass granted to former members.
Well, now that he is no longer in parliament, it seems the law-breaking former PM is already making good use of the free time he has available, by penning a weekly column for the right-wing outlet.
Mr Johnson had previously written columns for the Daily Telegraph, angering critics in 2009 as the mayor of London by describing the £250,000 annual fee as “chicken feed” and cheesing off the business appointments watchdog in 2018 when he signed a new contract with the paper without telling them first.
That decision led to the committee – known as the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments or Acoba – writing to tell the then former foreign secretary that he had failed to “comply with your duty to seek advice” from Acoba as required under the Ministerial Code.
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Now, a spokeswoman for Acoba told the PA news agency about Mr Johnson’s new role with the Mail: “We haven’t had an application and we will be writing to Mr Johnson.”
Later on Friday, an additional statement from the committee said the politician committed a "clear breach" of the rules by only letting Acoba know of the appointment just 30 minutes before the column was announced publicly.
Uh oh.
The news was confirmed on Friday afternoon, when the Tory appeared in a video for the paper and said he was “thrilled” to be penning the weekly column every Saturday, but weirdly, added he would only write about politics “unless I absolutely have to”.
In an article confirming the appointment, the Daily Mail described Mr Johnson – who was once sacked from a job at The Times over allegations he made up a quote – as “one of the wittiest and most original writers in the business”.
“Whether you’re a Boris fan or not, it’s going to be required reading – both in Westminster and for millions across the world,” it added.
Twitter was mostly unconvinced:
\u201c@MailOnline Lying \u2611\ufe0f Manipulative \u2611\ufe0f Self serving \u2611\ufe0f Contemptuous of the public \u2611\ufe0f \n\nYou two are made for each other.\u201d— Daily Mail Online (@Daily Mail Online) 1686916892
\u201c@MailOnline No wonder Wikipedia no longer count you as a reliable source.\u201d— Daily Mail Online (@Daily Mail Online) 1686916892
\u201c@MailOnline Certainly consistent with your brand to hire more clowns for the circus.\u201d— Daily Mail Online (@Daily Mail Online) 1686916892
\u201c@MailOnline I assume he is writing the comedy sketch\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02\u201d— Daily Mail Online (@Daily Mail Online) 1686916892
\u201c@MailOnline He did great in journalism before politics. \ud83e\udd26\ud83e\udd2a\ud83e\udd14\u201d— Daily Mail Online (@Daily Mail Online) 1686916892
\u201cDoubts raised over impartiality of new Daily Mail article:\u201d— Have I Got News For You (@Have I Got News For You) 1686910796
\u201cThis one encapsulates the Daily Mail's appointment of Boris Johnson as a columnist...\u201d— James O'Brien (@James O'Brien) 1686910708
\u201cWhen Boris Johnson was a journalist, he got fired twice for lying.\n\nSo he entered politics, where he literally lied to Queen & country, and then got fired AGAIN for lying...\n\nAnd the Daily Mail thought:\n\n"That's EXACTLY the kind of journalist we want informing our readers".\u201d— Femi (@Femi) 1686912136
\u201cBREAKING: Boris Johnson has got a new job as a Daily Mail columnist because it's the only employer in the UK that considers "pathological liar" to be a desirable skill x\u201d— Laura Kuenssberg beyond parody (@Laura Kuenssberg beyond parody) 1686919043
\u201cMan sacked twice for lying, that lied to his party about having an affair, lied to the Queen, lied to the House and lied to the UK, employed by the Daily Mail as a columnist!\n'Not going well is it Daily Mail?' \ud83e\udd2a\ud83e\udd2a\ud83e\udd2a\ud83e\udd23\ud83e\udd23\ud83e\udd23\u201d— Steve Bray on Mastodon @SNB19692@Mastodon.Social (@Steve Bray on Mastodon @SNB19692@Mastodon.Social) 1686922144
The Mail has also said Mr Johnson’s “totally unmissable” debut article will be published at 5pm on Friday.
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