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'Johnson reminds me of Trump': Tory contest arrives in Bournemouth
'We need a leader. That's Boris': Tory contest arrives in Bournemouth
(about 5 hours later)
John King and David Smith had just enjoyed a lunchtime organ recital at Bournemouth Pavilion theatre but their upbeat mood was punctured a little when they heard the next event would be the Tory leadership hustings.
“It’s got to be Boris,” said Jenny Price as she emerged from the Bournemouth Pavilion theatre after the latest round of Conservative leadership hustings. “I came to make certain I was backing the right man and I’m pretty sure I am.”
“I don’t think that will be quite so entertaining,” said Smith. “I don’t like Boris Johnson at all. He reminds me of Donald Trump and not in a good way. He’s not at all prime ministerial. I just don’t trust him.”
Price, who described herself as a “well-retired” occupational therapist from West Sussex, said she felt Boris Johnson had the presence and charisma to inspire and the chutzpah to take on hard-nosed EU negotiators.
They both felt Jeremy Hunt would be a much better bet. “I’ve got a good feeling about him,” said Smith. “He seems much more honest and straightforward.”
“Without Brexit I think Jeremy Hunt would actually make a decent prime minister. He has a good grasp of what is going on. But I think the bureaucrats in Brussels need more than a nice, genuine guy. They need a hefty Boris, yellow hair, hands going everywhere telling them: ‘This is where it’s going chaps. If you don’t like it, sorry we know where the door is.’”
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The Tory leadership bandwagon rolled into the Dorset resort as the temperatures soared towards 30C. Sunbathers packed the famous sandy beaches and both candidates appeared for the obligatory waterside photo ops.
Though the venue for the hustings on Thursday had not been announced in advance, the People’s Vote campaign had got wind of it and, as King and Smith chatted, a van with an advert claiming that Johnson was in the pocket of Nigel Farage was being parked across the street from the art deco building.
At lunchtime an organ recital had taken place at the art deco theatre and the demographic for both that event and the hustings was broadly similar – white and middle aged or elderly.
“It makes you think, doesn’t it?” said Tom Queally, who volunteers with homeless charities. “I haven’t made up my mind who I think would be best. I’m going to listen to them in the next few weeks and puzzle it out. Not that I’ve got a vote but I don’t suppose it’ll be long before we have a general election.” Queally voted Tory in the last election but said he was not averse to changing to Labour.
The candidates addressed the theatre separately. Johnson was first up on to the stage and attracted more applause, cheers and laughter than his opponent (though actually the best joke of the night might have been an audience member who put to Johnson that the collective noun for a group of Tory members right now was a' ‘division’).
The People’s Vote campaign has promised to ramp up its efforts and its van is likely to try to follow Johnson around. A spokesperson said: “Farage’s extremist vision of Brexit has been adopted by both candidates but it’s Boris Johnson who is increasingly talking up the Faragist vision of a destructive no deal, ‘do or die’.”
When it was his turn, Hunt appeared jacketless and with shirt sleeves rolled up. He was calm and gave more detailed answers than Johnson; he received both boos and cheers when he said he would not negotiate Brexit alongside Nigel Farage.
In the late June heat, the Dorset resort’s famous sandy beach, promenade and pier were heaving with sunbathers and strollers. Most seemed to be Johnson fans.
Christine Elliott, a retired bank worker from Wimborne Minster, Dorset, who joined the Tory party four years ago, was not impressed. “If Nigel Farage was on the stage he’d be the one I’d vote for,” she said.
“He’s got more about him,” said Sue Stones, who was keeping cool by paddling. “I’m not sure I’d even recognise Jeremy Hunt if he came and had a game of volleyball with us here this afternoon.”
On the theatre steps afterwards, Graham Browning, from Wiltshire, said he had joined the young Tories aged 17 and is now 81. He said his favourite prime minister was Winston Churchill.
Actually, Hunt had already made an appearance on the seafront, taking the air with activists and enjoying an ice-cream.
Browning is not a Boris fan. “He’s a good comedian. He’s expansive and jocular but right now we need someone more serious.” His wife, Doreen Browning, 79, said she arrived wavering between the two candidates. The hustings had convinced her. “I’m for Hunt now,” she said.
As the start of the hustings neared, security officers in dark suits and headsets began to appear among the beachgoers and shoppers. Some wondered if a Glastonbury headliner was making a surprise appearance – and were disappointed to be told Johnson and Hunt were in town, rather than Stormzy.
Simon Lloyd, 72, a former military man and now a financial adviser – and a remainer – was also impressed by Hunt’s grasp of detail. “I arrived thinking I didn’t really want to vote for either. Boris is a great showman but he doesn’t have an eye for detail. Hunt sounded as if he had costed things.”
Daisy, seven, said she knew who Johnson was. “He’s the one with the sticky-out hair. He’s funny.”
One of the younger attendees, Ben, an IT contractor in his 30s, was for Johnson, just. “He’s the lesser of two evils,” he said. “I can’t vote for Jeremy Hunt on the basis that he is a remainer. I’ll take a chance with Boris. If he doesn’t deliver a clean Brexit it could be the shortest premiership ever.”
But very few of those chugging along on the Bournemouth Belle land train, buying goodies in the Rock Shop or being whizzed into the sky on the observation wheel have a vote, with the poll only open to Tory members.
Hunt mentioned several times that his father was in the navy – a good tactic on the south coast of England but it didn’t wash with Pat King, a retiree merchant navy engineer from Bournemouth. “We need a leader, someone to push Brexit through,” he said. “That’s Boris.”
Councillor Bob Lawton, the deputy chair of the Bournemouth East Conservative association, does have one: he said he was leaning towards Johnson and believed most Tories in the area were.
King didn’t mind the concerns about Johnson’s private life. “I’m old enough to remember John Major and Edwina Currie and David Mellor in his Chelsea strip. There’s always something going on. I didn’t like the way Hunt came across – those expressive, Tony Blair hands.”
“He comes with baggage. We know that,” Lawton said. “Jeremy is a really good guy but I think people believe Boris has a bit more charisma and they are willing to forgive him.”
Who would he rather spend time with on board a ship at sea? “Boris, no doubt. He’d be much more fun.”
Tory members began arriving two hours before the hustings to bag good seats. Most said they were backing Johnson.
Retired Bournemouth civil servant Patricia Farrington said: “It’s simply because he’s the most likely to get us out of the EU. They both say they will but to be honest I don’t really trust either.” Farrington said she voted leave because she was worried that Turkey would join the union. “We’re an island – we’re better off without the other European countries.”
Her husband, Stewart, was not allowed in because he is not a member so headed home to follow the event from afar. He said he would vote for “none of the above” if he had the chance.
Christine Elliott, a retired bank worker, said she joined the Tory party four years ago. “But if Nigel Farage was on the stage he’d be the one I’d vote for,” she said.
Elliott, from Wimborne Minster, Dorset, said she was reluctantly backing Johnson but would have preferred Dominic Raab. “I can’t see how either Johnson or Hunt will get Brexit through parliament,” she said.
Most of the attendees were white and middle-aged and older.
One of the younger ones, Ben, an IT contractor in his 30s, was handing out leaflets explaining why Theresa May’s deal was a bad one. “Boris is the lesser of two evils,” he said. “It’s ambiguous what Boris would do but I can’t vote for Jeremy Hunt on the basis that he is a remainer. I’ll take a chance with Boris. If he doesn’t deliver a clean Brexit it could be the shortest premiership ever.”
Some were undecided. Peter Lamb, from Winchester, was wearing half a “Back Boris” badge and half a Jeremy Hunt one. “I’ve come so I can make an assessment,” he said. Lamb said he had taken soundings from non-Tory members to help him make his decision. “It’s 50-50,” he said. “But what I’m hearing is that people want a leader, not an expert.”
The Tory MP for Havant, Alan Mak, was banging the drum for Hunt outside. He said: “Jeremy is a skilled negotiator. He can get us a better deal out of the EU. He’s very much the man on the up.” Mak said Hunt had covered more than 1,000 miles in the last week. “He’s going to go on meeting people. That’s the best way to engage.”
