Boris Johnson Refuses To Rule Out A Political Comeback

Asked repeatedly during a television interview whether he could “rule out a comeback”, Mr Johnson failed to respond, insisting voters were not interested in “the fate of this or that politician”. His comments came as he visited Dorset at the start of a week-long “farewell tour” of regional visits to highlight the successes of his three-year tenure as prime minister. But his boasts of boosting rural access to high-speed broadband fell flat as it was confirmed that the government’s target has been downgraded to connecting 85% of homes and businesses by 2025, instead of the 100% promised in Conservative manifesto for 2019 election. Recent days have seen increasingly open speculation that Mr Johnson could make a bid to return to Downing Street – like his hero Winston Churchill – if his successor Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak fail to revive the fortunes of Tory. Asked today if he could rule out a return, he said: “I think generally people in this country care more about gigabit broadband than the fate of this or that politician.” Mr Johnson refused to rate himself out of 10 for his tenure. Asked about his plans after next Tuesday, when he is due to be replaced, he said: “I’m focused on today.” Former cabinet minister Rory Stewart predicted earlier this week that Johnson may follow the example of former US President Donald Trump and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in trying to return to power after the coup. “He thinks he’s been treated badly, he doesn’t see the reality that he’s been a terrible prime minister,” Mr Stewart said. “I fear we will have a second Berlusconi or Trump, who will try to come back.” Mr Johnson said he was “proud” he had “delivered what I said I would do” on broadband. “I said we’re going to try to get up to 85 percent gigabit broadband – or 100 percent gigabit broadband,” he said. “We’ve gone from 7 percent when I started to 70 percent in three years, despite Covid. That’s not half bad in my opinion.” The Conservative manifesto at the last election promised to bring “full fiber and gigabit broadband to every home and business across the UK by 2025”. However, this target was downgraded to 85 per cent in November 2020 and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) confirmed today that this remains the government’s target. Johnson’s successor as leader of the Conservative party will be named next Monday after the long-running dispute between Ms Truss and Mr Sunak, with the winner taking over as prime minister the following day.

title: “Boris Johnson Refuses To Rule Out A Political Comeback Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-07” author: “Danny Lerch”

Asked repeatedly during a television interview whether he could “rule out a comeback”, Mr Johnson failed to respond, insisting voters were not interested in “the fate of this or that politician”. His comments came as he visited Dorset at the start of a week-long “farewell tour” of regional visits to highlight the successes of his three-year tenure as prime minister. But his boasts of boosting rural access to high-speed broadband fell flat as it was confirmed that the government’s target has been downgraded to connecting 85% of homes and businesses by 2025, instead of the 100% promised in Conservative manifesto for 2019 election. Recent days have seen increasingly open speculation that Mr Johnson could make a bid to return to Downing Street – like his hero Winston Churchill – if his successor Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak fail to revive the fortunes of Tory. Asked today if he could rule out a return, he said: “I think generally people in this country care more about gigabit broadband than the fate of this or that politician.” Mr Johnson refused to rate himself out of 10 for his tenure. Asked about his plans after next Tuesday, when he is due to be replaced, he said: “I’m focused on today.” Former cabinet minister Rory Stewart predicted earlier this week that Johnson may follow the example of former US President Donald Trump and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in trying to return to power after the coup. “He thinks he’s been treated badly, he doesn’t see the reality that he’s been a terrible prime minister,” Mr Stewart said. “I fear we will have a second Berlusconi or Trump, who will try to come back.” Mr Johnson said he was “proud” he had “delivered what I said I would do” on broadband. “I said we’re going to try to get up to 85 percent gigabit broadband – or 100 percent gigabit broadband,” he said. “We’ve gone from 7 percent when I started to 70 percent in three years, despite Covid. That’s not half bad in my opinion.” The Conservative manifesto at the last election promised to bring “full fiber and gigabit broadband to every home and business across the UK by 2025”. However, this target was downgraded to 85 per cent in November 2020 and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) confirmed today that this remains the government’s target. Johnson’s successor as leader of the Conservative party will be named next Monday after the long-running dispute between Ms Truss and Mr Sunak, with the winner taking over as prime minister the following day.

title: “Boris Johnson Refuses To Rule Out A Political Comeback Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-12” author: “Pamela Lloyd”

Asked repeatedly during a television interview whether he could “rule out a comeback”, Mr Johnson failed to respond, insisting voters were not interested in “the fate of this or that politician”. His comments came as he visited Dorset at the start of a week-long “farewell tour” of regional visits to highlight the successes of his three-year tenure as prime minister. But his boasts of boosting rural access to high-speed broadband fell flat as it was confirmed that the government’s target has been downgraded to connecting 85% of homes and businesses by 2025, instead of the 100% promised in Conservative manifesto for 2019 election. Recent days have seen increasingly open speculation that Mr Johnson could make a bid to return to Downing Street – like his hero Winston Churchill – if his successor Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak fail to revive the fortunes of Tory. Asked today if he could rule out a return, he said: “I think generally people in this country care more about gigabit broadband than the fate of this or that politician.” Mr Johnson refused to rate himself out of 10 for his tenure. Asked about his plans after next Tuesday, when he is due to be replaced, he said: “I’m focused on today.” Former cabinet minister Rory Stewart predicted earlier this week that Johnson may follow the example of former US President Donald Trump and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in trying to return to power after the coup. “He thinks he’s been treated badly, he doesn’t see the reality that he’s been a terrible prime minister,” Mr Stewart said. “I fear we will have a second Berlusconi or Trump, who will try to come back.” Mr Johnson said he was “proud” he had “delivered what I said I would do” on broadband. “I said we’re going to try to get up to 85 percent gigabit broadband – or 100 percent gigabit broadband,” he said. “We’ve gone from 7 percent when I started to 70 percent in three years, despite Covid. That’s not half bad in my opinion.” The Conservative manifesto at the last election promised to bring “full fiber and gigabit broadband to every home and business across the UK by 2025”. However, this target was downgraded to 85 per cent in November 2020 and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) confirmed today that this remains the government’s target. Johnson’s successor as leader of the Conservative party will be named next Monday after the long-running dispute between Ms Truss and Mr Sunak, with the winner taking over as prime minister the following day.

title: “Boris Johnson Refuses To Rule Out A Political Comeback Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-18” author: “Brad Blanchard”

Asked repeatedly during a television interview whether he could “rule out a comeback”, Mr Johnson failed to respond, insisting voters were not interested in “the fate of this or that politician”. His comments came as he visited Dorset at the start of a week-long “farewell tour” of regional visits to highlight the successes of his three-year tenure as prime minister. But his boasts of boosting rural access to high-speed broadband fell flat as it was confirmed that the government’s target has been downgraded to connecting 85% of homes and businesses by 2025, instead of the 100% promised in Conservative manifesto for 2019 election. Recent days have seen increasingly open speculation that Mr Johnson could make a bid to return to Downing Street – like his hero Winston Churchill – if his successor Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak fail to revive the fortunes of Tory. Asked today if he could rule out a return, he said: “I think generally people in this country care more about gigabit broadband than the fate of this or that politician.” Mr Johnson refused to rate himself out of 10 for his tenure. Asked about his plans after next Tuesday, when he is due to be replaced, he said: “I’m focused on today.” Former cabinet minister Rory Stewart predicted earlier this week that Johnson may follow the example of former US President Donald Trump and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in trying to return to power after the coup. “He thinks he’s been treated badly, he doesn’t see the reality that he’s been a terrible prime minister,” Mr Stewart said. “I fear we will have a second Berlusconi or Trump, who will try to come back.” Mr Johnson said he was “proud” he had “delivered what I said I would do” on broadband. “I said we’re going to try to get up to 85 percent gigabit broadband – or 100 percent gigabit broadband,” he said. “We’ve gone from 7 percent when I started to 70 percent in three years, despite Covid. That’s not half bad in my opinion.” The Conservative manifesto at the last election promised to bring “full fiber and gigabit broadband to every home and business across the UK by 2025”. However, this target was downgraded to 85 per cent in November 2020 and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) confirmed today that this remains the government’s target. Johnson’s successor as leader of the Conservative party will be named next Monday after the long-running dispute between Ms Truss and Mr Sunak, with the winner taking over as prime minister the following day.