Boris' hilarious answer on whether he'd rather be stuck in a lift with Starmer or Sturgeon
MP Nadine Dorries, interviewing the former prime minister, asked: "If you're stuck in the lift, who would you rather be stuck with? Keir Starmer or Nicola Sturgeon." In response, Mr Johnson exclaimed: "Oh brother!"
But, clarifying his answer, he continued: "Actually, it's like all these things - I'm sure the viewers would understand this - both individuals are actually far nicer and more amusing than you might otherwise imagine.
"And the kind of hostility that you see between politicians on screen is often not reflected in real life.
"I think provided it wasn't like 50 floors I wouldn't mind either of them."
Hardly hilarious, but close enough to admitting that political actors are indeed actors. Not that Boris would express it in such a way, but that's part of the act too.
But, clarifying his answer, he continued: "Actually, it's like all these things - I'm sure the viewers would understand this - both individuals are actually far nicer and more amusing than you might otherwise imagine.
"And the kind of hostility that you see between politicians on screen is often not reflected in real life.
"I think provided it wasn't like 50 floors I wouldn't mind either of them."
Hardly hilarious, but close enough to admitting that political actors are indeed actors. Not that Boris would express it in such a way, but that's part of the act too.
6 comments:
Yes, I'm sure the vindictiveness is acting. But so is the magnanimity, especially when people are writing their books about you and you want to be seen as a nice guy underneath it all, and you don't need to attack their policies because you never really cared anyway.
Sam - maybe acting is all that is open to a minister. Civil servants know how temporary ministers tend to be and so does the minister. Acting a part is the easy way out.
Or, alternatively, you could argue that people are far nicer face-to-face where their behaviours are directly attributable, but on a wider stage or forum where the direct attribution is somewhat diluted the nasty side is unleashed.
See also Social Media.
DJ - the nasty side could also be a substitute for capable. When people embark on a political career, they presumably think about their strengths and weaknesses and what to develop. Admittedly some don't give much of an indication that they even got that far.
Remember professional wrestling on TV.
Most matches starred The Nasty Cheating Bastard opposing the Angelic, Play-by-the-Rules Hero.
The referee of course was part of the act.
The wrestlers would apparently inflict severe damage on each other.
Of course it was not the done thing to inflict real serious damage, because the actors had to repeat the act again the following night and not being able to perform was not good for either the audience of the income.
Doonhamer - Mick McManus is the nasty one I remember. As kids we soon found out that professional wrestling on TV was faked because we tried some of the moves on each other and they didn't work. Then we looked more closely and saw them holding back on the moves which could have worked.
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