Boris to resign? (Speculation) And who should replace him?

[alex397]

Sadly we aren't truly free of him for another month; the BBC is now saying he ( Cummings ) will be working remotely until mid December.

Which leads me to believe the big headlines today and the pictures of Cummings leaving 10 Downing Street with a box are part of the publicity they want. (Surely there is a back entrance to 10 Downing Street??)

 

[Cowley]

What a week then. Trump loses the election, a potential Covid vaccine is announced, Sutcliffe dies and Cummings is leaving Number 10...

All we need now is for Elvis to be discovered living in Chesterfield and 2020 might well have redeemed itself!

 

[jon0844]

He's leaving to spend more time with his anorak but I feel he'll still have a hotline to No.10 from Islington.

I'd think of it more as Boris having a hotline to Islington from Number 10...

 

[Cowley]

Which leads me to believe the big headlines today and the pictures of Cummings leaving 10 Downing Street with a box are part of the publicity they want. (Surely there is a back entrance to 10 Downing Street??)

I’m sure that you’re right on that and this is all a part of controlling the narrative.

 

[jon0844]

Which leads me to believe the big headlines today and the pictures of Cummings leaving 10 Downing Street with a box are part of the publicity they want. (Surely there is a back entrance to 10 Downing Street??)

It was clearly done for the media.

Robert Peston's Tweet that had photos taken of a screen with images, as if they were like covert CCTV images from a monitor - all to add to the intrigue.

Dominic has a plan. He'll be working from the sidelines as he always did, and when free of the Government will still have some level of control and influence with powerful figures. Plus, like Farage, he'll turn up again when things have died down a bit.

 

[edwin_m]

Sadly we aren't truly free of him for another month; the BBC is now saying he ( Cummings ) will be working remotely until mid December.

From Barnard Castle?

 

[jon0844]

What a week then. Trump loses the election, a potential Covid vaccine is announced, Sutcliffe dies and Cummings is leaving Number 10...

All we need now is for Elvis to be discovered living in Chesterfield and 2020 might well have redeemed itself!

It does feel like a soap opera where a series of crazy storylines all come to their natural conclusion.

 

[Cowley]

It does feel like a soap opera where a series of crazy storylines all come to their natural conclusion.

Oh gawd. Does this mean that to go one further the entire planet is going to burn to the ground on Christmas Day..?

Re Boris - I wonder if he’s feeling a bit better after being ill earlier in the year and has started to wake up to the reality of the situation he’s now in?
I was fairly convinced that he’d be heading for the door in spring, but this weeks flurry of activity has started to make me wonder...

 

[jon0844]

Oh gawd. Does this mean that to go one further the entire planet is going to burn to the ground on Christmas Day..?

Re Boris - I wonder if he’s feeling a bit better after being ill earlier in the year and has started to wake up to the reality of the situation he’s now in?
I was fairly convinced that he’d be heading for the door in spring, but this weeks flurry of activity has started to make me wonder...

Boris' fridge explodes on Christmas Day with him still hiding in it, and Brexit is cancelled at the strike of midnight on New Year's Eve when a representative of the German auto trade turns up and says 'Give Britain whatever it wants'....

 

[Cowley]

Boris' fridge explodes on Christmas Day with him still hiding in it, and Brexit is cancelled at the strike of midnight on New Year's Eve when a representative of the German auto trade turns up and says 'Give Britain whatever it wants'....

I was thinking that Michel Barnier would turn up in a blond wig and shout “Get outta my Europe!”

 

[317 forever]

Breaking news on the BBC, he’s off...with immediate effect!

Cummings that is, not Johnson

Cummings was one of yesterday's Goings.

Sorry, it's an old joke.

 

[nlogax]

Oh gawd. Does this mean that to go one further the entire planet is going to burn to the ground on Christmas Day..?

Boris is feeling pretty smug and thinks he's won the nation over after having shoved Cummings and Cain out of the building. With this, Britain takes Boris into the hallway and - to Boris's horror - hands him an envelope with divorce papers. Cue end credits.

I'm aware that reference may age me a little..

 

[Cowley]

Boris is feeling pretty smug and thinks he's won the nation over after having shoved Cummings and Cain out of the building. With this, Britain takes Boris into the hallway and - to Boris's horror - hands him an envelope with divorce papers. Cue end credits.

I'm aware that reference may age me a little..

And mine!

 

[DerekC]

Oh gawd. Does this mean that to go one further the entire planet is going to burn to the ground on Christmas Day..?

Be careful what you joke about - Trump has pushed loyalists into key positions in the US DoD. The generals have brushed up their "what do we do if the President issues an illegal order?" plans - we haven't reached the series finale yet! We will be left with Trump reaching for the button* and ... (cue credits)

* yes, I know there isn't a real one, but with a bit of luck the generals will have provided Trump with a dummy!

 

[RichT54]

Boris is feeling pretty smug and thinks he's won the nation over after having shoved Cummings and Cain out of the building. With this, Britain takes Boris into the hallway and - to Boris's horror - hands him an envelope with divorce papers. Cue end credits.

I'm aware that reference may age me a little..

I doubt that Boris is feeling smug today after having to self isolate and then his reported remarks about devolution being a disaster north of the border, which will be a real gift to the SNP ahead of the upcoming elections.

 

[edwin_m]

Apparently claiming devolution was Blair's greatest mistake. That's effectively saying that it was worse than the Iraq war.

I wish Bozo would engage brain before opening mouth. Or better still, keep mouth firmly shut.

 

[najaB]

I wish Bozo would engage brain before opening mouth. Or better still, keep mouth firmly shut.

As the saying goes - "It's better to stay silent and have people wonder if you're an idiot, than open your mouth and remove the doubt."

 

[nlogax]

I doubt that Boris is feeling smug today after having to self isolate and then his reported remarks about devolution being a disaster north of the border, which will be a real gift to the SNP ahead of the upcoming elections.

No. 10 is a gigantic soap opera. What's unicorns and rainbows on a Tuesday can revert to a dungheap two days later. Working in politics must be exhausting.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Apparently claiming devolution was Blair's greatest mistake. That's effectively saying that it was worse than the Iraq war.

I wish Bozo would engage brain before opening mouth. Or better still, keep mouth firmly shut.

And DJT keep off Twitter!

 

[brad465]

Apparently claiming devolution was Blair's greatest mistake. That's effectively saying that it was worse than the Iraq war.

I wish Bozo would engage brain before opening mouth. Or better still, keep mouth firmly shut.

My understanding is Johnson supported the war during his first spell as an MP, so if he had gone out and said Iraq was Blair's greatest mistake, while he would be right, it would be very easy to call Johnson a hypocrite.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

My understanding is Johnson supported the war during his first spell as an MP, so if he had gone out and said Iraq was Blair's greatest mistake, while he would be right, it would be very easy to call Johnson a hypocrite.

Exactly - but then .....

 

[edwin_m]

My understanding is Johnson supported the war during his first spell as an MP, so if he had gone out and said Iraq was Blair's greatest mistake, while he would be right, it would be very easy to call Johnson a hypocrite.

So, as I say, he should have said nothing. Saying what he said insults the memory of all those who died in Iraq and the other wars that followed, and also reminds those like me who had forgotten his support for it.

 

[RichT54]

So, how's Boris doing these days? Despite executing enough U-turns to make anyone dizzy, there doesn't seem to be quite as much of a furore over his (lack of) performance in recent weeks. Is he actually a bit more secure in his post; or are people just biding their time waiting for a few more major problems to occur?

 

[najaB]

Is he actually a bit more secure in his post; or are people just biding their time waiting for a few more major problems to occur?

I'd say the knives are definitely out, just nobody is bold/desperate enough to take over right now!

 

[DB]

I'd say the knives are definitely out, just nobody is bold/desperate enough to take over right now!

Indeed - he'll be seen as a liability now, but nobody will want the job until the government has been able to claim hey have "beaten" the pandemic. After that it's probably a case of whether he jumps before they try to push him.

 

[edwin_m]

The vaccine programme seems to be going well so far, probably because it's being run by scientists rather than politicians. That gives him some breathing space.

 

[Romsey]

I guess that Boris will remain in No.10 until the worst of the Brexit induced chaos is over and Covid -19 is more or less under control. That way he's the only senior Conservative tainted with bad decision making as seen by the public. Then the seekers of glory can start stabbing Boris (and each other) in the back! (But it might be a long time before Brexit induced chaos is resolved.)

 

[Gloster]

I think that some of them are just beginning to start distancing themselves from him, so that when they stab him in the back they can pretend that all the mistakes were his and his alone. But then, he chose to fill his cabinet with power-hungry non-entities.

 

[DB]

I think that some of them are just beginning to start distancing themselves from him, so that when they stab him in the back they can pretend that all the mistakes were his and his alone. But then, he chose to fill his cabinet with power-hungry non-entities.

I suspect all of the current cabinet will be tainted by this and a repalcement from outside it is more likely. Sunak obviously sees himself as a potential PM, but when the financial impact of all this becomes truly apparent he may well find that his (relative) public popularity wanes rapidly.

 

[SteveM70]

I think that some of them are just beginning to start distancing themselves from him, so that when they stab him in the back they can pretend that all the mistakes were his and his alone. But then, he chose to fill his cabinet with power-hungry non-entities.

Patel’s recent comments where she’s claiming she wanted the borders closing last March suggest this is happening