ON JULY 24, 2019, Boris Johnson was named Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Life, as we know it, has never been the same since.
Bo Jo may have won the overwhelming support of the British public but he still has some way to go before he convinces the watching world of his suitability for office.
He might come across as an affable, Hugh Grant-esque bumbling-but-loveable oaf, but behind the gimmicks and carefully stage-managed photo opportunities, Boris has got a bad track record when it comes to diplomacy.
From comments about the Irish to some unsavoury views on Burkas and the Brexiteers of the UKIP party - Johnson loves putting his foot in his mouth and it's concerning to say the least.
17. On Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar:
“Why isn’t he called Murphy like all the rest of them.”
16. On former US President Barack Obama:
"A symbol of the part-Kenyan President's ancestral dislike of the British Empire – of which Churchill had been such a fervent defender."
15. On current US President Donald Trump:
"The only reason I wouldn't visit some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump."
Boris Johnson meeting Simon Coveney in Dublin this morning (Picture: Twitter)14. On Russia Prime Minister Vladimir Putin:
"Despite looking a bit like Dobby the House Elf, he is a ruthless and manipulative tyrant."
13. On Scotland:
"A pound spent in Croydon is of far more value to the country than a pound spent in Strathclyde. You will generate jobs in Strathclyde far more effectively if you invest in parts of London."
12. On Libya:
[Explaining Sirte would have a successful future as a luxury resort provided investors] “cleared the dead bodies away."
Boris Johnson (Image: Getty)11. On Papa New Guinea:
"For 10 years we in the Tory party have become used to Papua New Guinea-style orgies of cannibalism and chief-killing."
10. On the Democratic Republic of 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."
9. On China:
"Compare with the old British Empire and the new American imperium, Chinese cultural influence is virtually nil and unlikely to increase."
(Photo by Rob Stothard/Getty Images)8. On the entire continent of Africa:
"The continent may be a blot, but it is not a blot upon our conscience. The problem is not that we were once in charge, but that we are not in charge any more."
7. On the European Union:
"Napoleon, Hitler, various people tried this out, and it ends tragically. The EU is an attempt to do this by different methods."
6. On the Netherlands:
"Sleazy"
5. On France:
"I said there were 250,000 French men and women in London and therefore I was the mayor of the sixth-biggest French city on earth."
4. On the Commonwealth:
"It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies."
3. On Muslim women in the UK:
"If a female student turned up at school or at a university lecture looking like a bank robber then ditto: those in authority should be allowed to converse openly with those that they are being asked to instruct."
Boris Johnson and David Davis (Image: Getty)2. On Malaysian women:
[Female students went to university because they] have got to find men to marry.
1. On UKIP:
"I can hardly condemn Ukip as a bunch of boss-eyed, foam-flecked euro hysterics, when I have been sometimes not far short of boss-eyed, foam-flecked hysteria myself."
** Originally published by Jack Beresford on : Jul 24, 2019
