Boris Johnson stays in Henley

[AdminSTB]

Supposing Boris Johnson had not sought to become London Mayor - or perhaps even double jobbed - and remained as MP for Henley to this day. I didn't see any reason for him to quit as an MP at the time, but hey ho.

It throws up a number of questions. Could another Tory have beaten Ken Livingstone? Would Boris have been appointed to high office by Cameron? It's possible he dodged a bullet by being away from the scene at that point, as he'd have accumulated the same baggage as someone like George Osborne, for example, which might have weakened his future prospects. On the other hand, we would probably not be talking about the outside chance of him losing his seat.

[LDCaerdydd]

If Boris either didn't contest the Mayoralty or stood and increased the share of the vote, he'd probably have ended up as a Tory Spokesperson for something in opposition and become a Minister of State in 2010 on a par with Alan Duncan.

(Remember Boris was sacked as a junior Shadow Education Minister)

Barring a complete fuck-up he would have been promoted to the cabinet in 2012 or 2014 reshuffle.

[Defenestrated Fipplebox]

A wider consideration would be if the London Mayor didn't exist, then British politics could be substantially different.

[LDCaerdydd]

I concur from Boris’ POV the mayoralty gave him some credibility that he was lacking, whilst he wasn’t university popular as Mayor he was able to harness the riots, Olympics and various infrastructure projects and brand them his own.

Without that he’d undoubtedly have continued with the light entertainment circuit for a few more years.

The Conservatives winning London (along with Crewe later that same month) helped accelerate the political narrative that the end of the Labour Govt was approaching.

[Deleted]

Jan 29, 2020 9:00:47 GMT LDCaerdydd said:

If Boris either didn't contest the Mayoralty or stood and increased the share of the vote, he'd probably have ended up as a Tory Spokesperson for something in opposition and become a Minister of State in 2010 on a par with Alan Duncan.

(Remember Boris was sacked as a junior Shadow Education Minister)

Barring a complete fuck-up he would have been promoted to the cabinet in 2012 or 2014 reshuffle.