Being Boris
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ|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 reports.
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 effect 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 Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.

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 Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.

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 AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S WEEKLY NZSe alt
PRETTY WOMAN
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

PRETTY WOMAN

Dial up the joy with a mood-boosting self-care session done in the privacy of your own home. It’s a blissful way to banish the winter blues.

time-read
3 mins  |
July 2024
Hitting a nerve
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

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
The unseen Rovals
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

The unseen Rovals

Candid, behind the scenes and neverbefore-seen images of the royal family have been released for a new exhibition.

time-read
2 mins  |
July 2024
Great read
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Great read

In novels and life - there's power in the words left unsaid.

time-read
2 mins  |
July 2024
Winter dinner winners
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Winter dinner winners

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

time-read
3 mins  |
July 2024
Winter baking with apples and pears
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Winter baking with apples and pears

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

time-read
7 mins  |
July 2024
The wines and lines mums
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

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
Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE

Auckland author Sacha Jones reveals how dancing led her to develop an eating disorder and why she's now on a mission to educate other women.

time-read
7 mins  |
July 2024
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

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
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START

Responsible for keeping the likes of Jane Fonda and Jamie Lee Curtis in shape, Malin Svensson is on a mission to motivate those in midlife to move more.

time-read
5 mins  |
July 2024