Boris Johnson’s withering insult to ‘giant yucca tree’ Theresa May

The full extent of Boris Johnson’s disdain for former prime minister Theresa May is being revealed in detail today by one of his closest former aides.

Mr Johnson, who replaced May as prime minister in 2019, likened her to “a giant chandelier under whose shadow everything dies”. And when he heard that Mrs May had decided to hold a snap general election in 2017, he said: “What happens when the public sees it?”

The accounts are contained in Sir Anthony Seldon’s book, by Mr Johnson’s former adviser, former Conservative MP Sir Conor Burns: Brexit Effectwhich will begin serialization next week. Independent.

Serialization is part of a new campaign Independent on how Britain could rebuild its broken ties with Europe. The Europe: Road to Return campaign will feature news, analysis, interviews and live events examining the impact of Brexit and what our relationship with Europe should look like.

Sir Conor, who was parliamentary private secretary when Mr Johnson was foreign secretary, was a key member of his inner circle.

He claims Mrs May’s decision to appoint Mr Johnson as foreign secretary after his narrow win in the 2017 election – widely seen as a promotion – was actually an attempt to “surprise” him.

“This was seen as important work,” Sir Conor writes. “But it was a brilliant rip-off of the opposition. How could Boris complain? He was now representing the UK on the global stage.”

Sir Conor describes Mrs May as a “staggeringly stupid blank canvas” and says Mr Johnson correctly predicted in private that her decision to call a snap election in 2017 would lead to “disaster”.

He writes: “’What happens when the public sees it?’ I remember you saying. [Her reputation as] The phrase ‘strong and stable’ had long since given way to the reality behind the Cabinet curtain. Just like in Alice in Wonderland, they discovered that there was nothing there. “Soon the public will see this.”

“He (Johnson) compared May to a giant Yucca tree in the Brazilian rainforest, under whose shade everything dies,” says Sir Conor.

Sir Conor, a close friend of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, says Mrs May is “the political ‘Peter Principle’ and has been elevated to her own level of incompetence”. (“The Peter Principle” is from a 1969 book by Laurence Peter, who said that employees rise to levels of incompetence).

Despite his fierce loyalty to Mr Johnson, Sir Conor is not without his criticism.

He said he trusted Mr Johnson’s ruthless No.10 adviser Dominic Cummings because he lacked the courage to push through Brexit without him.

“Boris hates conflict… Without Cummings at his side there is no way he would have had the courage to provocation parliament or take back the whip from so many MPs. Probably no other prime minister would have allowed Cummings anywhere near Downing Street.”

Sir Conor says eventually the relationship with Mr Cummings “became cancerous”.

Sir Conor questions Mr Johnson’s “flawed” appointments as Prime Minister, including the appointment of former royal aide Sir Simon Case as cabinet secretary.

“Many of his appointees had obvious flaws. Simon Case was a light person. That’s why he was chosen. Choosing a dress for the Duchess of Cambridge was in a different league than heading the civil service.”

Sir Conor says “bovine” Tory granddaddy Sir Mark Spencer, a farmer by profession, was the wrong choice as Mr Johnson’s chief whip, claiming a senior figure in No 10 observed “one of his cows would do better”.

It says Mr Johnson never won the trust of many Tory MPs and reveals bitter personal and political tensions between the former prime minister’s Brexit supporters, fellow ministers and officials.

The rival camps of Brexit campaign leader Mr Johnson and Michael Gove “hate each other”, says Sir Conor.

Sir Conor claims Mr Johnson’s Foreign Office deputy, Sir Alan Duncan, “could not hide his hatred” for Mr Johnson and that Foreign Office officials “felt it was an affront to Boris’s civil values”.

Sir Conor said senior Conservative MP Sir Bernard Jenkin was leading “stupid Brexiteers” and was a “very dull” person who was “recently upset with Johnson as someone who has come to Johnny’s (anti-EU campaign)”.

He said other pro-Brexit MPs were close to “losing their marbles” as attempts to finalize Britain’s exit from the EU stalled.

Sir Conor describes Mr Johnson’s four-letter response after another prominent Eurosceptic Tory MP, Steve Baker, described Sir Conor as “on the verge of tears” and said he was ready to take over as prime minister to “save Brexit”.

Mr Johnson shouted “FFS!” he replied. Reply with a text message the next morning.

According to Sir Conor, Mr Johnson was “very close to sacking” Liz Truss (who is a member of his cabinet and will replace him as Prime Minister in 2022).

“She was constantly manoeuvering,” he says, adding: “When Liz Truss arrives uninvited, displaying her lack of awareness of offering support, you can start measuring the pitches at number 10.”

Sir Conor claims Truss was helped by Tory MP Wendy Morton, who was chief whip when he became Prime Minister. Burns says Morton is “almost universally known as ‘Wendy Moron'” and likens her to Wallace and Gromit.

It offers withering portraits of other prominent Tories.

Burns says Matt Hancock, who was forced to resign as health secretary over a sex scandal, “predictably lived up to the last four letters of his name”.

Johnson’s Brexit opponents, David Cameron and George Osborne, are accused of “disgraceful” behavior and “extreme arrogance and self-importance”.

Burns also claims that former minister Johnny Mercer was so “arrogant” that when he suggested offering dual leadership to a bemused Johnson, who responded with a characteristic “Come on!”, Mercer mistakenly accepted the offer.

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