Tomorrow the Conservative party is to announce its new leader and the nation's new Prime Minister. Despite my recent blog which portrayed Prime Minister Hunt, Boris Johnson is the overwhelming favourite to win, possibly with over 60% of support. People have stated for years, even when David Cameron was Prime Minister, that Boris, if on a leadership ballot paper, would triumph among the Tory grassroots.
Why is this? He was able to do so twice in London, typically a Labour city that looks likely to remain red next May. Boris draws support from Home Counties, true blue heartlands and left-wing inner city urban areas, a fine characteristic that most politicians couldn't match. Could this be because of his blustering voice, hair, general appearance, good humour (when it's not racist) and general buffoon manner making you want to laugh out loud? Or does he appeal to voters because of his ability, through his rousing oratory and prose, to make people, and the country, feel good about themselves? That phrase - 'feeling good' - must be unpacked. It is something physical within individuals, a warm glow that life is going well, things are on the up and there is an optimistic future to look forward. Of course, in this age where mental illness seems to be at an all time high, it has to be welcomed when people feel this way. Whether these individual feelings of optimism can combine into the common spirit of a nation feeling good is another matter. Certainly during the Second World War, I imagine people in Britain were worried, terrified, petrified about the future. But there was a common purpose, a common unity against the enemy. Individual pleasure and well-being is not a bad thing. But it mustn't be at the expense of others. For example, Boris Johnson has stated he supports tax cuts for middle class earners. The individuals who receive those cuts will personally feel better. They will have more money in their pocket to save, spend or invest how they like. On a micro scale, they are more likely to feel optimistic about the future. However, this could potentially lead to less revenue into the exchequer which would assist the poorest in society. The pleasure of the middle class earner would only be contrasted by the pessimism and despair of the homeless, Universal Credit claimants, those attempting to get onto the property ladder. They have nothing to be optimistic about. This shows a key weakness of Boris' approach. He likes being liked and attempts to do this by pleasing everyone. Of course, as I have stated in previous blogs. This is impossible. Part of politics is about ideology and taking sides. But certainly in the speeches and hustings, he has attempted to present a bright future for Britain outside the EU, whether we leave with a deal or without one. Leaving without a deal would certainly create economic chaos, partially due to the lack of planning. One doesn't need to be an expert to realize that if a country changes from being inside an institution for 45 years to outside it overnight, with no transition whatsoever, disaster is only inevitable. Yet Boris attempts to present this picture of Britannia ruling the waves, striking trade deals all over the place, leading in health, education and all the other aspects of policy which his part have so failed to deliver over the last decade. Despite repeatedly changing his mind depending on the circumstances, a characteristic not that dissimilar to President Trump, the consistency has been that optimism - whether it's London recovering after the riots, celebrating the Olympics and Pride or as foreign secretary. I wonder whether it is a politician's job to provide optimism in an abstract form. Clearly, every party does this during an election campaign. They present how amazing the country would be under their policies while also bashing life under the other folks. It is a battle of ideologies, a battle of visions for the country. I start to struggle with optimism when it clouds realism, the true picture of what is going on. If a politician states our welfare system is the fairest in the world when, in reality, people have committed suicide due to the stress of the work capability assessments, that, to me, is morally repellent. If they state Britain is on the up when our economy is shaky (at best), life expectancy is declining and key institutions remain a failure, they are lying. Politicians always lie, you may say. It is when they offer a vision that is so far from the truth that I feel a repulsion, a true loathing for any fictional sunny uplands they preach. Optimism can have its uses. It presents something to aim towards. A government could be optimistic about having the best, fully integrated social care system in the world with policies and strategies to work towards achieving it. That is better than pessimism which states the social care crisis can simply never be solved. When the government start treating everything as fine, or state social care is getting better, when the hypothetical policy clearly isn't working, they are betraying their duty which the people have entrusted in them. It certainly won't make people feel good. Expect a bounce for the Tories in the opinion polls tomorrow; every new Prime Minister gets their brief honeymoon period. Boris Johnson will get quite a surprise when he enters Number 10 and realizes he cannot make people feel good simply by cracking a joke. Instead, it is about adopting true patriotic values: a love for one's country but also a dear wish to reform the injustices and unfairness within it. Johnson is masterful at talking the talk, even Jeremy Hunt couldn't deny that. He may make people temporarily feel better, more optimistic about the future of our nation. But don't be surprised if it all ends in tears. Boris' premiership could calamitously end in a way that makes David Cameron and Theresa May look like model Prime Ministers. People certainly won't be amused. I suppose one of the only positives of Brexit is the shock it gave the establishment, exposing the true consequence of hyperbolic government optimism and rhetoric that was so distinct to the reality of people's social hardships.
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