Boris Johnson: The Gambler

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Bower suggests that Stanley’s mistreatment of Boris’s mother, Charlotte, is the defining secret of the Johnson family and the fact that Boris, as the oldest child, witnessed it is the key to understanding his character, including his rampant ambition. I definitely feel as though I know Boris better, but would have preferred for the book to be slightly more streamlined! He dedicates a significant part of the later quarter of the book to Covid, where I think he went so off-piste with his confident analysis that I felt the whole thrust of this bio was to absolve Boris of any culpability and to frame him as potentially one of the greats - if only we and the media would give him a chance. Apparently Boris Johnson’s long-suffering second wife, the human rights lawyer Marina Wheeler, took a similar view: “She unhesitatingly rebuked Stanley for her husband’s sins. There are inaccuracies in this account but much that is written elsewhere on Covid is subjective in any case.

Revelatory, unsettling and compulsively readable, this is the most timely and indispensable book on Boris Johnson yet from Britain’s leading investigative biographer. Naturally, Stanley began sleeping with one of the two young women, in full knowledge of his children. Perhaps it is no surprise, then, that Bower appears to be on a mission to explain why the blond bombshell has not (yet) proved to be a political messiah.It is symptomatic of the darkness of this book that makes you want to close it and never look at it again. for all that, looked down on by them as an arriviste, someone who has only just recently bought himself into the club but who really doesn't have the pedigree. Photograph: Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament Handout/EPA View image in fullscreen Boris Johnson during a parliamentary session on Covid. Admittedly, it sounds like he was, and an atrocious husband too, having broken his first wife’s nose in a row while embarking on a half-crazed campaign for maximum sexual conquests. For instance he made no mention of Johnson's refusal to recommend John Bercow to the House of Lords, although Hammond was rewarded.

It shows Boris as the fool he is but also a clever man, a man who suffers depression, has not got much respect for his dad. That said, I have enjoyed some conservative commentators’ bewilderment at yesterday’s budget, but cakeism will inevitably turn into no treats for anyone unless he gets a grip. I found this unauthorised biography of Boris Johnson totally engrossing - it came across to me as a balanced and unbiased representation of his life and career about a man whose behaviour has been, on occasion, maddening and reprehensible.Started off very strong, then got gradually less engaging as Johnson actually ascended to power -- I found it hard to care about the ins and outs of London policy in particular. Bower doesn't hide from the lying, cheating and the long list of other negative aspects of his personality.