Kate Hawkesby: Boris Johnson's another fringe player thrust into power

Boris Johnson's rise to power confirms colourful personalities - even offensively so - still have appeal.

COMMENT: The election of Boris Johnson to leader of his party, and thus Prime Minister of Britain, raises an interesting question.

How much do we want cult of personality these days? And how much personality is too much?

Love or hate Johnson, and he's polarising enough that most people feel strongly one way or the other, you can't argue that he's not bringing colour. And by colour I mean, crazy content. He's adding to the drab grey-suited world of politics - a splash of really bright fluoro.

I spoke to the deputy director of a British thinktank yesterday who wrote him off, he said BoJo is Britain's worst nightmare come true, he's "ego made flesh".
He said he's a guy who's based his entire career on not taking anything seriously.

And that I think is what we're seeing edge its way into politics these days. Amid all the virtue signallers and the moral high ground takers, we are getting the fringe creeping into the mainstream. Those who've not taken much seriously at all in life throwing their hat into the ring for a bit of politics.

It happened in America in 2016, with Donald Trump, it happened in the Ukraine recently with the stratospheric rise of a comedian to president and it's happened now in the UK.

The other trait we are seeing here: leaders who don't mince words. Leaders less interested in the musings on social media or opinion polls, and more interested in just saying what they think. Often offensively sure, but nonetheless they cut to the chase and seemingly don't care about the consequences.

Now I'm not saying this is a good thing, in fact time and time again it's proven offensive or racist or inappropriate or just downright cray cray.

But somewhere in the electorate, there's an appetite for this stuff. Otherwise how do these guys get here?

Boris said he wants Britain out of the European Union by the end of October: deal or no deal.

His detractors, and the man I spoke to yesterday was one of them, say that'll be catastrophic.

Britain will end up with a "senseless calamitous wreck of a no-deal crash out" of Brexit he told me.

He claims Boris won't last more than a few months at Number 10. He may well be right. There may well be too much colour and crazy there to go the distance.

Or will we see what we have in America? So much crazy, and yet look where they're at?
They can't write Trump off, he may even get a second term.

It seems for all our buttoned up sensibilities, political correctness and modern day virtues colourful personalities - even offensively so - still have appeal.