TheIt's anti-hero era, so let's give him the title of man of the year. Boris Johnson is on the verge of keeping this promise, which seemed to be untenable until recently: "Get Brexit done. " This time, the scenario, which even Netlix could not have dreamed of, should no longer experience twists and turns (but let's keep the conditional anyway …). After winning the legislative elections without appeal, "Bo Jo" should go down in history as the Prime Minister who brought the United Kingdom out of the European Union on January 31, 2020. No surprise, it is precisely his europhobia which had earned him his first appearance in The world, the 27 May 1996. The newspaper then devoted only one sentence to him: "The editorialist Boris Johnson proposes in the Daily Telegraph sabotage the single currency. "
We are in the midst of a mad cow crisis and the United Kingdom has just been imposed an embargo on its beef. Something to arouse the ire of English tabloids as well as the conservative press in which this journalist, barely 32 years old, officiates, who therefore turns out to be already europhobic and provocative. It is above all this last quality that he will exercise with incredible persistence if one believes the archives of the newspaper. The"Eccentric Conservative Party candidate Boris Johnson, 43, alias "Boris the buffoon", brilliant journalist, artist in antics and various provocations » : thus Marion Van Renterghem presents on April 29, 2008 the one who is running for the town hall of London.
"Funny tory"
Because in the meantime, "Boris", as we now nickname him, entered politics, in accordance with a very English practice which sees journalists crossing the mirror. In the photograph that illustrates the article, we discover hair that has since become almost as famous as that of Donald Trump. The candidate poses in a boxing hall; he has a punching bag in his hands, but that won't stop him from beating. "The possible victory of a Tory in London, a Labor stronghold, would be a political revolution", warns the journalist. But it is true that he does not have all the attire of a conservative.
"Funny tory", title by the way The world April 30 for the first long portrait dedicated to Boris Johnson, still written by Marion Van Renterghem, who for a few years will become one of the specialists on the subject: “He emerged from the British Conservative Party like a devil out of the box. A funny animal with a cub silhouette, with cheeks that betray the taste of Johnny Walker and a platinum blond mop that he quite often forgets to put in order. Capable of suddenly throwing at voters: "Vote tory, your wife will have bigger breasts!" " The provocation for goodwill, whatever the background: "Too funny, Boris Johnson. A real star. The public loves it. Now he's ready to rule one of the most powerful and most watched capitals in the world. What his behavior at the town hall would be remains a mystery. His friends fear his total lack of practical sense, his opponents denounce his incompetence. " This will not prevent him from being elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012.
