Sacking Boris a mistake, says columnist
Tory leader Michael Howard (pictured) has made a huge mistake in sacking Boris Johnson, columnist Rod Liddle claimed today.
In a spirited defence of the MP, Mr Liddle accused Mr Howard of “an acute lack of judgement” in getting rid of his most charismatic and high-profile frontbencher.
Mr Howard had adopted the right approach when he made light of allegations about Mr Johnson at an awards ceremony last week, he added.
Mr Liddle, an associate editor of The Spectator, himself hit the headlines when it emerged he was having an adulterous affair with a 23-year-old secretary at the magazine, Alicia Munckton.
His wife Rachel Royce wrote a series of acerbic newspaper articles about their subsequent break-up.
Interviewed on BBC Radio 4‘s World This Weekend, Mr Liddle said: “The only reason Boris became an embarrassment to the Conservative Party is because Michael Howard made it thus.
“It‘s a terrible mistake by Michael Howard. He has shown an acute lack of judgment in all of this – the stuff at Liverpool where there was that ludicrous stunt to send poor Boris up to apologise for a perfectly reasonable leader column in the Spectator.
“Now we are in the position where he has allowed an MP‘s private life to remove the most charismatic and identifiable member of the Conservative Party from the frontbench.
“We now have a Conservative frontbench where the most interesting person is Oliver Letwin. They are not going to win many votes are they?” he said.
Mr Liddle, the former editor of Radio 4’s Today programme, acknowledged Mr Johnson could be controversial, but said: “That is because, rather wonderfully for a politician and wonderfully for a journalist, he has an open mind on political issues, he is non-judgmental, he‘s intelligent and one of the best journalists I have ever worked with, with a brilliant mind.”
He added: “The truth is that the public like him…because he is different from politicians, because he seems to be a real person.
“That is why Michael Howard has made a terrible mistake.”
Both political and journalistic “machinations” may have played a part in Mr Johnson’s downfall, he told the programme.
“There are plenty of people in Fleet Street who covet Boris‘ job as editor of The Spectator. They’ve had it in for him in recent weeks.”
He added: “There are presumably plenty of people within the Conservative Party who are jealous of Boris‘ profile which is way, way in excess of any other Conservative MP.”
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