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Friends, Voters, Countrymen
Book by BORIS JOHNSON
Hardcover
First published October 15, 2001
About the author
Boris Johnson
32 books252 followersBoris Johnson is a British politician in the Conservative Party and the former Prime Minister of United Kingdom as well as the former Mayor of London. Due to his public school, blustering, comedic style, he is generally either loved or loathed by members of the British public.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 20, 2015
Silly, funny - sometimes laugh out loud funny. This is a story about life on the campaign trail in the Henley constituency in Oxfordshire, in 2001. Even if his politics aren't your flavour, or even if you have stronger concerns about the man than just his politics, Boris is nevertheless an excellent and funny writer. He comes across in the kind of shambolic, goofy fashion we have come to associate with his public performances. His campaigning insights are amusing, in a comforting, scones-and- jam-for-tea sort of way. It is all very Middle England.
Photograph by Laura Callan.
He was campaigning for a safe Conservative seat - but you would never guess it from his anxious witterings. His only (mild) rivals are the Lib Dems.
Under the banter of course he is breathing fire. As a Conservative candidate, one time editor of The Spectator and assistant editor of The Daily Telegraph he has very strong opinions, and the book cannot help but leak them.
Hiccups and reservations aside, this is a relaxing, fun read. It's interesting to go on the road with a campaigning MP, and see what they get up to. We also stay with him when he first goes to parliament, and that makes for a fun read too.
Photograph by Laura Callan.
He was campaigning for a safe Conservative seat - but you would never guess it from his anxious witterings. His only (mild) rivals are the Lib Dems.
They are everywhere, these Liberal Democrats, like self-seeding yellow poppies: kindly, principled, reasonable, and sometimes just a little bit maddening....
Such is my paranoia about the Lib Dems that I have started to develop weird superstitions. The first is the need to touch wood. As soon as I have rung the bell of a house, I try to find some wood to touch, in the hope of improving the outcome of the coming conversation. Anything will do. A quick caress of the jamb, a stroke of the sill, provided there is wood under the paint. The trouble is that some of these modern executive homes have very swish formica-type doors with nothing but white plastic integrating the frame with the bricks. One householder opens up to find me leaning back gymnastically to touch the eves of her porch. She is a Lib Dem, of course.
Under the banter of course he is breathing fire. As a Conservative candidate, one time editor of The Spectator and assistant editor of The Daily Telegraph he has very strong opinions, and the book cannot help but leak them.
Hiccups and reservations aside, this is a relaxing, fun read. It's interesting to go on the road with a campaigning MP, and see what they get up to. We also stay with him when he first goes to parliament, and that makes for a fun read too.
July 13, 2016
This book is what made me lose faith in Boris Johnson.
Right lets get the technical stuff out of the way first. This book isn't a book so much as it is a string of newspaper columns put together in a chronological format (I think it might actually be made up of his old Spectator column, though I'm not sure). There are some amusing stories about just how you go about getting yourself elected to parliament and some (unintentional) insight into why the Conservative party of 2004 kept losing elections (that being that they were racist, sexist and hugely out of date with the electorate).
Now, onto BoJo. BoJo has always given off the impression that there is a mind behind his foppish appearance, but I found none of that here. What I mostly found was a self-confessed narcissist with very few, if any, redeeming qualities. Which was a shame, because I rather liked Boris before I read his book.
It wasn't even that funny :(
Right lets get the technical stuff out of the way first. This book isn't a book so much as it is a string of newspaper columns put together in a chronological format (I think it might actually be made up of his old Spectator column, though I'm not sure). There are some amusing stories about just how you go about getting yourself elected to parliament and some (unintentional) insight into why the Conservative party of 2004 kept losing elections (that being that they were racist, sexist and hugely out of date with the electorate).
Now, onto BoJo. BoJo has always given off the impression that there is a mind behind his foppish appearance, but I found none of that here. What I mostly found was a self-confessed narcissist with very few, if any, redeeming qualities. Which was a shame, because I rather liked Boris before I read his book.
It wasn't even that funny :(
May 28, 2019
I came across this book by fluke.
The day after Theresa May announced she was stepping down on the 7th of June, I sauntered into one of my favourite second-hand bookshops.
As I was browsing (not sure why I was even in there - as I had promised myself I would not buy any more books), I came across a signed copy of the book.
Now, knowing that after May's announcement there would be a scramble for the leadership of the Tory party and Boris Johnson was considered front runner, I speculated on how much a signed copy of his book on his journey to becoming an MP would be.
I also realised I didn't know much about the fella and was genuinely curious as to why he was front-runner as the little of him I saw on the media did not correlate with him being a front runner. What was I missing?
Anyway, the book has been an exciting read that has given me insight into his appeal. It's a relatively short read with lots of wit and humour and by the end of it you actually get a sense of the man.
If anything, it has sharpened my interest in Parliament. I look forward to seeing how he fares in the battle for the leadership of the Tory party.
The day after Theresa May announced she was stepping down on the 7th of June, I sauntered into one of my favourite second-hand bookshops.
As I was browsing (not sure why I was even in there - as I had promised myself I would not buy any more books), I came across a signed copy of the book.
Now, knowing that after May's announcement there would be a scramble for the leadership of the Tory party and Boris Johnson was considered front runner, I speculated on how much a signed copy of his book on his journey to becoming an MP would be.
I also realised I didn't know much about the fella and was genuinely curious as to why he was front-runner as the little of him I saw on the media did not correlate with him being a front runner. What was I missing?
Anyway, the book has been an exciting read that has given me insight into his appeal. It's a relatively short read with lots of wit and humour and by the end of it you actually get a sense of the man.
If anything, it has sharpened my interest in Parliament. I look forward to seeing how he fares in the battle for the leadership of the Tory party.
February 8, 2016
Friends, Voters, Countryment by Boris Johnson - Good
Difficult book to review. Well written, witty, all of Boris's good points, but also full of his Tory rhetoric. I am anything but a Tory!
The book covers the last few weeks of electioneering prior to the 2002 election when Boris was standing as an MP for South Oxfordshire. This was an interesting, quick, read. Funny in places, there is some interesting background to some of his political thinking and also to the election process.
Difficult book to review. Well written, witty, all of Boris's good points, but also full of his Tory rhetoric. I am anything but a Tory!
The book covers the last few weeks of electioneering prior to the 2002 election when Boris was standing as an MP for South Oxfordshire. This was an interesting, quick, read. Funny in places, there is some interesting background to some of his political thinking and also to the election process.
October 26, 2023
An odd but interesting read, punctuated with some notable funny moments. I enjoyed the book, although it lacked that extra depth to take it beyond an average (3 star) rating.
January 10, 2016
Boris Johnson is one of those people you can never quite pin down. Is he a man who overestimates his own intelligence and thus manages occasionally to be spectacularly dumb, or a man who plays dumb so that his intelligence doesn't damage his popularity? Whichever it is, this book - a series of observations about his 2002 election campaign to succeed Michael Heseltine - does nothing to resolve.
For the most part, the book is light on content. We hear about the kind of things that happen in public debates and on the doorsteps, but generally with a gloss which keeps the nitty gritty detail out of view, ensuring that the thing is presentable to all but the most tribal. The language is pure Boris, a sort of sub-Wodehousian stream of literary and historical allusions, subtle but harmless jibes and extemporising. Here and there, Boris will mention the kind of issues which people raise and the difficulties they present, but he rarely attempts to convince the reader that he has a solution, seeming instead to demonstrate just how hard the problems can be to solve. Occasionally, however, the mask slips - we have, for example, an extended account of his views on fox-hunting - and, unless you agree with him wholeheartedly these passages tend to jar somewhat, rather as if someone tried to crowbar a party political broadcast into the middle of a farce. Fortunately this doesn't happen too often, but when it does it throws the preceding chapters into sharp relief, showing what political candy-floss they are.
If Boris stuck to his anecdotes, what we would have here is a fluffy, ephemeral glimpse into a small corner of the world of politics. Instead, what it seems we have is a microcosm of Boris' own identity crisis. Interesting, but not always comfortable.
For the most part, the book is light on content. We hear about the kind of things that happen in public debates and on the doorsteps, but generally with a gloss which keeps the nitty gritty detail out of view, ensuring that the thing is presentable to all but the most tribal. The language is pure Boris, a sort of sub-Wodehousian stream of literary and historical allusions, subtle but harmless jibes and extemporising. Here and there, Boris will mention the kind of issues which people raise and the difficulties they present, but he rarely attempts to convince the reader that he has a solution, seeming instead to demonstrate just how hard the problems can be to solve. Occasionally, however, the mask slips - we have, for example, an extended account of his views on fox-hunting - and, unless you agree with him wholeheartedly these passages tend to jar somewhat, rather as if someone tried to crowbar a party political broadcast into the middle of a farce. Fortunately this doesn't happen too often, but when it does it throws the preceding chapters into sharp relief, showing what political candy-floss they are.
If Boris stuck to his anecdotes, what we would have here is a fluffy, ephemeral glimpse into a small corner of the world of politics. Instead, what it seems we have is a microcosm of Boris' own identity crisis. Interesting, but not always comfortable.
May 23, 2019
I was hoping this would be like Have I Got Views For You, but sadly it wasn't, I just wasn't really feeling it so gave up.
October 9, 2019
I am intrigued by our Prime Minister and wanted to know more about him and reviews of this book looked my best bet as it was written by himself and was full of humour. The book starts with Boris's campaign trail in the Henley constituency in Oxfordshire, in 2001. At times he has to face very abusive constituents, but takes it all on the chin (it's a good job that he is thick skinned). The book had me howling with laughter and although I don't agree with all his politics, I also felt really sorry for him.
It made me realise for the first time that, politicians really have to have guts to knock on peoples doors, not knowing whether people are going to welcome them or be thoroughly aggressive.
There were so many laugh out loud moments that I kept on waking my Hubby up at bedtime.
He makes no denial that sometimes he bumbles things up, but at least he can laugh at himself!
I would like to go out for a meal with him, it would be great fun.
A thoroughly good read.
It made me realise for the first time that, politicians really have to have guts to knock on peoples doors, not knowing whether people are going to welcome them or be thoroughly aggressive.
There were so many laugh out loud moments that I kept on waking my Hubby up at bedtime.
He makes no denial that sometimes he bumbles things up, but at least he can laugh at himself!
I would like to go out for a meal with him, it would be great fun.
A thoroughly good read.
February 5, 2022
Typically recognisable Johnson schtick. Loved the passage on p179 where he describes the practice of slowing down to 70mph behind a police car on the motorway.
"The police may be there to enforce the law; but, my God, aren't MPs there to make the law? If we don't obey it, who will?"
A paraphrase of Mrs Thatcher's comments about the importance of governers obeying the law, otherwise the governed will not.
Can only hive a hollow laugh now, 20 years after he wrote those words.
"The police may be there to enforce the law; but, my God, aren't MPs there to make the law? If we don't obey it, who will?"
A paraphrase of Mrs Thatcher's comments about the importance of governers obeying the law, otherwise the governed will not.
Can only hive a hollow laugh now, 20 years after he wrote those words.
September 30, 2022
Utter crap!
So back then he saw what needed sorting when Labour were in power and then when he got the power.....did none of it!
He describes being in awe and respecting Parliament. What happen there then?
His way of describing women is offensive and his constant sexual innuendos reveal alot about his true thoughts. Yuck!
So back then he saw what needed sorting when Labour were in power and then when he got the power.....did none of it!
He describes being in awe and respecting Parliament. What happen there then?
His way of describing women is offensive and his constant sexual innuendos reveal alot about his true thoughts. Yuck!
December 11, 2019
I don't like the guy, but he can make people laugh. He should be a comedian, not a politician.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews