Johnson

Kum bay ya, my Lord, kum bay ya!

In England we have a right wing politician called Alexander Boris de Pfeffel  Johnson or "Boris" for short. He was born in America and spent his privileged school years at Eton before moving on to Balliol  College, Oxford where he gained an upper second class degree in Classics. He played rugger and was also a member of the notorious and exclusively upper class drinking and dining society - The Bullingdon Club.

For some reason that I cannot figure out, the British media have put Johnson on a pedestal. We are led to believe that he has "character" and voter appeal with his unruly mop of white-blonde hair and his over-excited misuse of the English language.  Some say he is destined to be our next prime minister. In my opinion, he has been given and continues to receive far too much airtime. It is as if the media have made him.

In 2008, Johnson became the elected Mayor of London. On the face of it, you would imagine that in leading the governance of one of the world's major cities he would have more than enough on his plate. Twenty four hours a day and seven days a week would surely never be enough to get everything done.

But no! In May 2015, Johnson became the Conservative MP for  Uxbridge and South Ruislip - representing more than 72,000 electors in parliament and presumably dealing with his constituents' endless issues. And this is what I don't get - How can somebody be both Mayor of London and an MP? To do both jobs effectively is surely impossible.

On Sunday, the media scrum were waiting outside Johnson's West London townhouse to find out which camp he intended to join ahead of Britain's European Union referendum to be held on June 23rd. In or out? Johnson announced he would join the "out" campaign. 

It was in that moment that my vote was suddenly magnetised towards the "in" box - despite my many instinctive misgivings about what Brussels and Strasbourg have done to our country in the  name of European unity.