Why Tories must ditch Boris Johnson, the view from Leeds – Rob Potts

IN my quiet little corner of north-west Leeds, I have a couple of lovely neighbours who are very much pillars of the community.
Is it time for the Tories to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister?Is it time for the Tories to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister?
Is it time for the Tories to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister?

They’ve served together as local councillors for as long as I’ve lived here and represent the needs of their constituents tirelessly, approaching each issue with what can best be described as a mixture of pragmatism, compassion and integrity. They also happen to be Tories.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

When they’re not busy with council business, I occasionally bump into the pair of them around the local area, either walking their dogs or enjoying some well-earned respite in one of the local pubs or cafes, and I always enjoy their company.

Margaret Thatcher, argues Rob Potts, was surrounded by moderating influences - unlike Boris Johnson.Margaret Thatcher, argues Rob Potts, was surrounded by moderating influences - unlike Boris Johnson.
Margaret Thatcher, argues Rob Potts, was surrounded by moderating influences - unlike Boris Johnson.

The one topic that never comes up in discussion is politics. If it did, I would feel compelled to ask these people, who practically embody the traditional values of one-nation Conservatism, what they think of the conduct of the Prime Minister and those acolytes who still willingly enable each of his increasingly unbecoming acts.

Friendship and decency mean that it is a question which will remain unasked, but I suspect that, like millions of other lifelong Tories, they will be quietly dismayed by what has become of their party.

Growing up in the 1980s in a low-income, single-parent household, I probably took a closer interest in politics than many kids my age, largely because it had such a profound impact on my own day-to-day life.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Back then, whilst my mum eked out the household budget as best she could, we had plenty of villains looming large on the television screens: chief amongst them Maggie ‘The Milk Snatcher’ Thatcher and her cartoonish henchman Norman Tebbit.

Is it time for the Tories to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister?Is it time for the Tories to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister?
Is it time for the Tories to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister?

As I got older, I realised that the world of politics was far more nuanced than the caricatured picture Spitting Image had presented to us.

I realised that the Conservative party was actually something of a broad coalition and home to other more moderate figures like Michael Heseltine, Ken Clarke and Thatcher’s dour yet sincere successor John Major.

Unlike the former Labour MP Laura ‘I could never be friends with a Tory’ Pidcock, I also grew up and realised that it’s ok to disagree with someone’s political stance fundamentally, providing those views are embedded in honesty, integrity and good will.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Thirty years on, things have changed. Having made a conscious effort to shed the image of ‘The Nasty Party,’ the Conservatives under Boris Johnson’s leadership appear to have metamorphosed into something much worse.

During the Johnson era the party that used to represent traditional British values has been busy debasing itself on a predictably regular basis: proroguing Parliament, tearing up treaties that it had signed itself and even lying to the Queen served as inedible entrees.

Since the Covid crisis erupted, Johnson and his cabal have sunk to even greater levels of depravity, creating the impression that they are above their own laws and, if recent by-election results are to be believed, alienating many of their own traditional voters.

More shocking has been the way that all but a laudable few of those on the government benches have acted as willing enablers whilst the party’s reputation is dragged through the mud.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It’s tempting to surmise that the ‘Nasty Party’ epithet was fitting after all. But before we decide that the cap fits we do need to pause for thought.

However hated Thatcher may have been in homes up and down the country (including mine), her singularity was at least counterbalanced by the moderating presence of Heseltine, Clarke, Major and others within the Tories’ broad political church.

Those figures are gone now, cast into the wilderness during the insanity of Brexit and joined by their modern heirs, such as Rory Stewart, Anna Soubry, Dominic Grieve and David Gauke – all left to lament impotently outside the parliamentary party.

What’s left is the husk of a party, dominated by an extremist sect led by grotesque caricatures like Johnson and the ever-more-ridiculous Jacob Rees-Mogg. Does this selection of ne’er do wells really represent mainstream Conservative voters (including my honest, hard working neighbours)? I suspect not.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But the longer this lot remain in charge, the more tarnished the image of the party becomes.

For a whole generation of voters, the concept of one-nation Conservatism will be an alien one.

If the Tories wish to be regarded as a party of steady pragmatism, rather than illicit parties, entitlement and lies, they need to act quickly.

For the sake of my neighbours and many others like them, it’s time for the Tories to rid themselves of Johnson and his gang and invite the grown-ups back into the room.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Rob Potts works at Parklands Primary School in Seacroft and is the author of The Caring Teacher – How to make a positive difference in the classroom.

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app, receive exclusive members-only offers and access to all premium content and columns. Click here to subscribe.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.