Being Boris
The Australian Women's Weekly|September 2019

Lovable larrikin or master manipulator? The world’s eyes are firmly on Britain’s new larger-than-life Prime Minister, but should we be amused or afraid?

William Langley
Being Boris

In the 700-year history of Britain’s parliament, all manner of showmen, scoundrels, seducers, chancers, charmers and crackpots have risen to power – sometimes through villainy, occasionally by accident – but none with the swirl and dazzle of Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson.

Plain ‘Boris’, as the new Prime Minister is known to almost everyone, is a big, blond bundle of contradictions – a brilliant mind with a taste for buffoonery, a child of privilege with a common touch, an oversexed connoisseur of talented women who longs for commitment and security.

Boris has been famous for almost his entire adult life, first emerging into the world of glossy magazines and gossip columns as the leader of Oxford University’s ‘gilded set’ in the mid-1980s. Millions of words have been written about and by him, yet few would claim to know what goes on in his head.

On July 24, following a half-hour visit to Buckingham Palace, where the Queen formally invited him to lead a new Conservative government, 55-year-old Boris sped to Downing Street to deliver a characteristically barnstorming speech, in which he in effective promised to solve all the nation’s problems, including the colossal mess surrounding Britain’s attempts to leave the European Union.

A short distance away, watching from the crowd, was an attractive, 31-year-old blonde wearing a floaty, floral-pink dress and a knowing expression. Carrie Symonds, daughter of a London media executive, is the latest and perhaps most intriguing woman in Boris’s romantically turbulent life. But why wasn’t Carrie at the new PM’s side as his crowning moment arrived?

Denne historien er fra September 2019-utgaven av The Australian Women's Weekly.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra September 2019-utgaven av The Australian Women's Weekly.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLYSe alt
Hitting a nerve
The Australian Women's Weekly

Hitting a nerve

Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.

time-read
5 mins  |
July 2024
Take me to the river
The Australian Women's Weekly

Take me to the river

With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.

time-read
4 mins  |
July 2024
The last act
The Australian Women's Weekly

The last act

When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?

time-read
8 mins  |
July 2024
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
The Australian Women's Weekly

MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN

When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.

time-read
8 mins  |
July 2024
The wines and lines mums
The Australian Women's Weekly

The wines and lines mums

Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.

time-read
10 mins  |
July 2024
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
The Australian Women's Weekly

Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?

Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2024
Growing happiness
The Australian Women's Weekly

Growing happiness

Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy

time-read
8 mins  |
July 2024
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
The Australian Women's Weekly

"Thank God we make each other laugh"

A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:

time-read
7 mins  |
July 2024
Winter baking with apples and pears
The Australian Women's Weekly

Winter baking with apples and pears

Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2024
Budget dinner winners
The Australian Women's Weekly

Budget dinner winners

Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.

time-read
5 mins  |
July 2024