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Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson , better known as Boris Johnson, is a British politician, popular historian, and journalist. He has been the Member of Parliament for Uxbridge and South Ruislip since 2015. He had previously been the MP for Henley from 2001 to 2008. He was Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016, and from 2016 to 2018 he served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. A member of the Conservative Party, Johnson identifies as a one-nation conservative and has been associated with both economically and socially liberal policies.

Born in New York City to wealthy upper-middle class English parents, Johnson was educated at the European School of Brussels, Ashdown House School, and Eton College. He studied Classics at Balliol College, Oxford, where he was elected president of the Oxford Union in 1986. He began his career in journalism at The Times but was sacked for falsifying a quotation. He later became The Daily Telegraph's Brussels correspondent, with his articles exerting a strong influence on growing Eurosceptic sentiment among the British right-wing. He was assistant editor from 1994 to 1999 before taking the editorship of The Spectator from 1999 to 2005. Joining the Conservatives, he was elected MP for Henley in 2001, and under party leaders Michael Howard and David Cameron he was in the Shadow Cabinet. He largely adhered to the Conservatives' party line but adopted a more socially liberal stance on issues like LGBT rights in parliamentary votes. Making regular television appearances, writing books, and remaining active in journalism, Johnson became one of the most conspicuous politicians in the United Kingdom.

Selected as Conservative candidate for the London mayoral election of 2008, Johnson defeated Labour incumbent Ken Livingstone and resigned his seat in the House of Commons. During his first term as Mayor of London, he banned alcohol consumption on much of the capital's public transport, championed London's financial sector, and introduced the New Routemaster buses, cycle hire scheme, and Thames cable car. In 2012, he was reelected to the office, again defeating Livingstone; during his second term he oversaw the 2012 Summer Olympics. In 2015 he was elected MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, stepping down as Mayor of London the following year. In 2016, Johnson became a prominent figure in the successful Vote Leave campaign to withdraw the United Kingdom from the European Union. He became Foreign Secretary under Theresa May's premiership, but resigned in criticism of May's approach to Brexit and the Chequers Agreement.

Johnson is a controversial figure in British politics and journalism. Supporters have praised him as an entertaining, humorous, and popular figure with appeal beyond traditional Conservative voters. Conversely, he has been criticised by figures on both the left and right, who accused him of elitism, cronyism, dishonesty, laziness, and using racist language. Johnson is the subject of several biographies and a number of fictionalised portrayals.

✵ 19. June 1964
Boris Johnson photo
Boris Johnson: 119   quotes 0   likes

Boris Johnson Quotes

“The excitement is growing so much I think the Geiger counter of Olympo-mania is going to go zoink off the scale.”

Boris Johnson

2010s, 2012
Source: On the forthcoming London Olympic Games. Daily Telegraph, 27 July 2012.

Thinking

“Take back control of huge sums of money, 350 million pounds a week, and spend it on our priorities such as the NHS.”

Boris Johnson

Speaking during the ITV Referendum Debate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMjvG0-dI44 (9 June 2016)
2010s, 2016

Money

“The problem is not that we were once in charge, but that we are not in charge any more… Consider Uganda, pearl of Africa, as an example of the British record. … the British planted coffee and cotton and tobacco, and they were broadly right… If left to their own devices, the natives would rely on nothing but the instant carbohydrate gratification of the plantain. You never saw a place so abounding in bananas: great green barrel-sized bunches, off to be turned into matooke. Though this dish (basically fried banana) was greatly relished by Idi Amin, the colonists correctly saw that the export market was limited… The best fate for Africa would be if the old colonial powers, or their citizens, scrambled once again in her direction; on the understanding that this time they will not be asked to feel guilty.”

Boris Johnson

Discussing his views on Africans and "Instant Carbohydrate Gratification" The Spectator 2 February 2002
2000s, 2002

Fate , Feeling , Coffee , Understanding

“Thank you very much Mr Meyer, Anthony Meyer that is. I want to thank you, I want to thank the police of course, and my wife Marina and my family, and my utterly brilliant campaign team, the Conservative GLA candidates — some of whom were extremely unlucky tonight — and of course the thousands of Conservative activists, the ward captains and knocker-uppers who did such an amazing job today, and indeed yesterday, rather.”

Boris Johnson

2000s, 2008, First Speech As London Mayor (May 3, 2008)

Family

“I have as much chance of becoming Prime Minister as of being decapitated by a frisbee or of finding Elvis.”

Boris Johnson

Ephraim Hardcastle, Daily Mail, 22 July 2003, p. 13.
Asked by pupils of Gillott's School in his constituency whether he would like the job of Prime Minister.
2000s, 2003

Chance

“It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving picaninnies; and one can imagine that Blair, twice victor abroad but enmired at home, is similarly seduced by foreign politeness. They say he is shortly off to the Congo. No doubt the AK47s will fall silent, and the pangas will stop their hacking of human flesh, and the tribal warriors will all break out in Watermelon smiles to see the big white chief touch down in his big white British taxpayer-funded bird.”

Boris Johnson

Daily Telegraph 10 January 2002
2000s, 2002

Love , Smile , Home , Imagination

“Life isn’t like coursework, baby. It’s one damn essay crisis after another.”

Boris Johnson

"Exams work because they're scary", Daily Telegraph, 12 May 2005, p. 22.
2000s, 2005

Life , Baby

“I'm a rugby player, really, and I knew I was going to get to him, and when he was about two yards away I just put my head down. There was no malice. I was going for the ball with my head, which I understand is a legitimate move in soccer.”

Boris Johnson

Ed Harris, "Boris bites Herr legs...: The MP for Henley does his bit for Anglo-German diplomacy", Evening Standard, 4 May 2006, p. 9.
On his tackle on German midfielder Maurizio Gaudino in a charity football match.
2000s, 2006

Understanding

“I'm having Sunday lunch with my family. I'm vigorously campaigning, inculcating my children in the benefits of a Tory government.”

Boris Johnson

"2-minute interview: Boris Johnson", The Guardian, 11 April 2005, p. 7.
Asked whether he was canvassing at Sunday lunchtime.
2000s, 2005

Children , Family

“It is just flipping unbelievable. He is a mixture of Harry Houdini and a greased piglet. He is barely human in his elusiveness. Nailing Blair is like trying to pin jelly to a wall.”

Boris Johnson

"The BBC was doing its job - bring back Gilligan", Daily Telegraph, 29 January 2004, p. 21.
Reaction to the Hutton Report.
2000s, 2004

“There was a young fellow from Ankara
Who was a terrific wankerer
Till he sowed his wild oats
With the help of a goat
But he didn’t even stop to thankera.”

Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson wins The Spectator’s President Erdogan Offensive Poetry competition, 18 May 2016. http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/05/boris-johnson-wins-the-spectators-president-erdogan-offensive-poetry-competition/
2010s, 2016

Help

“My chances of being PM are about as good as the chances of finding Elvis on Mars, or my being reincarnated as an olive.”

Boris Johnson

"You ask the questions", The Independent, 17 June 2004, p. 7.
Asked "Admit it: you want to become prime minister, don't you?" by Amanda Findlay of Bolton.
2000s, 2004

Chance

“I think I was once given cocaine but I sneezed so it didn't go up my nose. In fact, it may have been icing sugar.”

Boris Johnson

"Londoner's Diary", Evening Standard, 17 October 2005, p. 15.
2000s, 2005

Thinking

“Voting Tory will cause your wife to have bigger breasts and increase your chances of owning a BMW M3.”

Boris Johnson

Francis Elliott, "Boris casts his vote: 'Spectator' editor tells 'Desert Island Discs' he'll quit to spend more time with David Cameron", Independent on Sunday, 30 October 2005, p. 3.
Said in April 2005 during the general election.
2000s, 2005

Chance

“I just say to everybody in the country, including everyone in Parliament, the fundamental choice is this: Are you going to side with Jeremy Corbyn and those who want to cancel the referendum? Are you going to side with those who want to scrub the democratic verdict of the people - and plunge this country into chaos. Or are you going to side with those of us who want to get on, deliver the mandate of the people and focus with absolute, laser-like precision on the domestic agenda?”

Boris Johnson

Brexit: Michel Barnier rejects demands for backstop to be axed https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49540681 BBC News (1 September 2019)
2010s, 2019

People , Country

“Under no circumstances would we agree to any free-trade deal that put the NHS on the table.”

Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson: Premiership will be the start of a golden age https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49107417 BBC News (25 July 2019)
2010s, 2019

“We are going to energise the country. We are going to get Brexit done on 31 October and take advantage of all the opportunities it will bring with a new spirit of can do. We are once again going to believe in ourselves, and like some slumbering giant we are going to rise and ping off the guy ropes of self doubt and negativity.”

Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson wins race to be Tory leader and PM https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49084605 BBC News (23 July 2019)
2010s, 2019

Self-confidence , Guy , Country

“If you Brexit sensibly and effectively, you take away so much of the ammunition of the SNP.”

Boris Johnson

Tory leadership: Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt on Scotland https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-48744493 BBC News (27 June 2019)
2010s, 2019

“I believe I am best placed to lift this party, beat Jeremy Corbyn and excite people about conservatism and conservative values.”

Boris Johnson

Tory leadership: Johnson warns party of risk of Brexit 'extinction' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48521389, BBC News, 5 June 2019
2010s, 2019

People

“We need to realise the depth of the problems we face. Unless we get on and do this thing, we will be punished for a very long time. There is a very real choice between getting Brexit done and the potential extinction of this great party.”

Boris Johnson

Tory leadership: Johnson warns party of risk of Brexit 'extinction' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48521389, BBC News, 5 June 2019
2010s, 2019

Problem , Time

“We will leave the EU on 31 October, deal or no deal. The way to get a good deal is to prepare for a no deal.”

Boris Johnson

Source: Tory leadership: Rivals clash over support for no-deal Brexit https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48403705, BBC News, 25 May 2019

Way

“If you do that you have to answer the question what next? What if the Iranians do rush for a nuclear weapon? Are we seriously saying that we are going to bomb those facilities at Fordo and Natanz? Is that really a realistic possibility? Or do we work round what we have got and push back on Iran together?”

Boris Johnson

Iran nuclear deal: Johnson courts Trump on Fox & Friends https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-44026548, BBC News, 7 May 2018
2010s, 2018

Question

“After we liberate ourselves from the shackles of Brussels we will be able to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs right across the UK.”

Boris Johnson

Source: EU referendum: Kinnock urges young voters to prevent 'Brexit by default' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36447926 BBC News (4 June 2016)

“We will be informed by our most important ally that it is in our interests to stay in the EU, no matter how flawed we may feel that organisation to be. Never mind the loss of sovereignty; never mind the expense and the bureaucracy and the uncontrolled immigration. The American view is very clear.”

Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson urges Obama not to intervene in EU debate https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35800232 BBC News (14 March 2016)
2010s, 2016

Loss , Feeling

“You look at the plan to increase the efforts to prop up the single currency with an ever denser system of integration, with more and more regulation about all sorts of social and economic issues which will impact directly on this country, I think the risk is increasingly in staying in the project. I think the best thing we can do is show a lead, show an example and strike out for freedom.”

Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson: EU exit 'win-win for us all' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35783049, BBC News, 11 March 2016
2010s, 2016

Effort , Thinking , Country , Freedom

“Britain is a great nation, a global force for good. It is surely a boon for the world and for Europe that she should be intimately engaged in the EU.”

Boris Johnson

Draft of a pro-EU newspaper column https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/boris-my-case-for-britain-to-stay-in-europe-f7qgrvtps, written before submitting an anti-EU column to the Daily Telegraph, later reproduced in the Sunday Times (February 2016)
2010s, 2016

World

“I have not had an affair with Petronella. It is complete balderdash. It is an inverted pyramid of piffle.”

Boris Johnson

It is all completely untrue and ludicrous conjecture. I am amazed people can write this drivel.
Simon Walters, "Boris, Petsy and a 'pyramid of piffle'", Mail on Sunday, 7 November 2004, p. 7.
Denying accusations of his having an affair with Petronella Wyatt.
2000s, 2004

“We are confident in our story and will be fighting this all the way. I am very sorry that Alastair Campbell has taken this decision but I can see that he got his tits in the wringer.”

Boris Johnson

Catherine Macleod, "Angry Blair takes on press", The Herald (Glasgow), 24 April 2002, p. 1.
On Campbell's negative reply to the Spectator's report that the Government had influence the Queen Mother's funeral arrangements.
2000s, 2002

Confidence , Fight , Self-confidence , Decision

“It is obviously possible to make more money by not being a full-time politician. I don't want to put too fine a point on it, but you have to make sacrifices sometimes.”

Boris Johnson

Conservative Leadership Contest Hustings in Darlington https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/1147103540827082754 (5 July 2019)
2010s, 2019

Money , Making love , Time

“I want to stress that for the vast majority of the people of this country, we should be going about our business as usual.”

Boris Johnson

2020s, 2020
Source: As quoted in Coronavirus: Up to fifth of UK workers 'could be off sick at same time' https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-51718917, 3 March 2020, BBC News.

Business , People , Country

“I was at a hospital the other night where I think there were a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody, you will be pleased to know, and I continue to shake hands. People obviously can make up their own minds but I think the scientific evidence is… our judgement is that washing your hands is the crucial thing.”

Boris Johnson

At a press conference, as quoted in U.K. Leader Boris Johnson Boasts He Has Shaken Hands With Coronavirus Patients https://www.newsweek.com/boris-johnson-says-shaken-hands-coronavirus-patients-1490214 by Khaleda Rahman, 3 March 2020, Newsweek.
2020s, 2020

Thinking , Making love , Night , People

“The real hero of Jaws is the mayor. A gigantic fish is eating all your constituents and he decides to keep the beaches open. OK, in that instance he was actually wrong. But in principle, we need more politicians like the mayor - we are often the only obstacle against all the nonsense which is really a massive conspiracy against the taxpayer.”

Boris Johnson

Speech given by Johnson at Lloyd's of London in 2006, quoted in * 2007-07-18

Boris Johnson inspired by Jaws mayor

Graeme Wilson and George Jones

The Telegraph

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1557765/Boris-Johnson-inspired-by-Jaws-mayor.html
2000s, 2006

Fish

“At this stage I do not think that the international comparisons and the data are yet there to draw the conclusions that we want.”

Boris Johnson

Prime Minister's Questions https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-05-06/debates/FD4CE89E-F564-4D9F-B396-59684C404BB8/PrimeMinister (6 May 2020)
2020s, 2020

Drawing , Thinking

“We have so far succeeded in the first and most important task we set ourselves as a nation to avoid the tragedy that engulfed other parts of the world.”

Boris Johnson

Prime Minister's statement on coronavirus https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-ministers-statement-on-coronavirus-covid-19-30-april-2020 (30 April 2020)
2020s, 2020

World , Parting

“£60,000,000 I saw was being spaffed up the wall on some investigation into historic child abuse. What on earth is that going to do to protect the people now?”

Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson: Money Spent Investigating Historical Child Abuse Is "Spaffed Up The Wall" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_FSqfXyUFk, LBC, 14 March 2019
2010s, 2019

People

“I do think they [the EU] understand there's an opportunity to do a deal. I think it's going to be touch and go.”

Boris Johnson

2010s, 2019
Source: Brexit: Johnson accused of ‘gaslighting’ voters amid claims he offered nothing new in EU meeting https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-deal-boris-johnson-donald-tusk-meeting-g7-summit-a9078646.html (26 August 2019)

Understanding , Thinking

“There's a terrible kind of collaboration as it were, going on between people who think they can block Brexit in Parliament and our European friends.”

Boris Johnson

Source: Boris Johnson: Brexit opponents 'collaborating' with EU https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49348072 BBC News (14 August 2019)

People , Thinking

“We want to, and we are going to, deliver on the mandate of the people, which is to take the UK out of the EU whole and entire on 31 October.”

Boris Johnson

Source: Boris Johnson 'absolutely' rules out pre-Brexit election https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49125078 BBC News (26 July 2019)

People

“We should actively campaign for a public understanding of the benefits of the [UK] union, economic and strategic, for the people and its component nations,”

Boris Johnson

Source: Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt pledge to safeguard union https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-48817848 BBC News (30 June 2019)

Understanding , People

“We are being asked to vote for a customs union and a second referendum. The Bill is directly against our manifesto - and I will not vote for it. We can and must do better - and deliver what the people voted for.”

Boris Johnson

Source: Brexit: PM under fire over new Brexit plan https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48360456 BBC News (22 May 2019)

People

“[I] didn't say anything about Turkey during the referendum. Since I made no remarks...I can't disown them”

Boris Johnson

Source: Brexit: Did Boris Johnson talk Turkey during referendum campaign? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46926119, BBC News, 18 January 2019

“if we get it wrong we will be punished”

Boris Johnson

Source: Theresa May on why Boris Johnson speech made her cross https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45722675, BBC News, 2 October 2018

“There is no plan for no deal because we are going to get a great deal.”

Boris Johnson

Source: Boris Johnson: EU can 'go whistle' over Brexit divorce bill https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40571123, BBC News, 11 July 2017

“[The UK is] no less united... nor indeed any less European following the decision to leave the EU.”

Boris Johnson

Source: Brexit: David Cameron to quit after UK votes to leave EU https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36615028 BBC News (24 June 2016)

Decision

“The EU is 50 years old, it is going in the wrong direction. It is time for real reform. The only way to get that is to leave.”

Boris Johnson

Source: Boris Johnson: EU exit 'win-win for us all' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35783049 BBC News (11 March 2016)

Time , Way

“Would anyone in their right mind want to join the EU today?”

Boris Johnson

Source: Boris Johnson: EU exit 'win-win for us all' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35783049, BBC News, 11 March 2016

“Leaving the EU would be a win-win for all. The EU costs us a huge amount of money and subverts our democracy”

Boris Johnson

Source: Boris Johnson: EU exit 'win-win for us all' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35783049 BBC News (11 March 2016)

Money , Democracy

“There is only one way to get the change we need - and that is to vote to go; because all EU history shows that they only really listen to a population when it says no.”

Boris Johnson

Source: EU referendum: Leaving EU a 'leap in the dark' says Cameron https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35634239 BBC News (22 February 2016)

History , Way , Change