Keith Houchen Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 3 minutes ago, Fatty Facesitter said: Think it's more of a hangover from his years of farting about as Mayor of London and his campaigning buffoonery more than anything else. It's just how he became prominent around the same time social media has boomed at the same time.Ā He was prominent long before social media and being Mayor. HIGNFY have been āBorisingā it for decades.Ā Ā Iāll be honest, Iāve never been the biggest fan of Angela Rayner but over the last year Iāve been warming to her. This is some of the best front bench shithousing since Prescott.Ā Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Factotum Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 It was the HIGNFY appearances that started this. Most people didn't know who the hell he was. His appearances were popular and led to him even hosting it. It was sort of similar with Farage, who used to come across as someone who could take the piss out of himself on it, and seemed like a 'decent sort of bloke' (by people who didn't look into it) Coincided with the the emergence of YouTube etc so those clips got shared. I remember him running for Mayor in 2008, and people at Uni being like 'Oh Boris is a legend, he's so funny' and I would just shake my head. It was the same people who joined Facebook groups called 'JEREMY CLARKSON FOR PM' Basically, its all Paul Merton's fucking fault for getting Deayton kicked off as host Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted January 19, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 19, 2022 at the same time, I do have some sympathy for the argument that if getting on HIGNFY was enough to get you elected, we'd have sat through Prime Minister Charles Kennedy, Ken Livingstone, Neil Hamilton, Godfrey Bloom, Gyles Brandreth and William Shatner by now. Far more blame needs to be directed at the public school network, lobbyists and the journalistic world that Johnson came up through than at a daft panel show and the idiots who thought he was a character (though, admittedly, said panel show can be seen as a "soft power" wing of much of the wider issues that got us here). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 24 minutes ago, BomberPat said: at the same time, I do have some sympathy for the argument that if getting on HIGNFY was enough to get you elected, we'd have sat through Prime Minister Charles Kennedy, Ken Livingstone, Neil Hamilton, Godfrey Bloom, Gyles Brandreth and William Shatner by now. Far more blame needs to be directed at the public school network, lobbyists and the journalistic world that Johnson came up through than at a daft panel show and the idiots who thought he was a character (though, admittedly, said panel show can be seen as a "soft power" wing of much of the wider issues that got us here). I donāt think HIGNFY got him elected, but it allowed the Boris persona the national training ground that his privilege laid the foundations for. He had the professional connections but this gave him the public connection. As Iāve said before, itās a fantastic bordering on genius way the persona has been crafted.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vamp Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Aren't televised comedians largely from the same schools as major politicians? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Factotum Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Yeah I'm being slightly flippant with the Merton line at the end, but as Keith said the show allowed him to create that image which he ran with. Hislop called him out a few times on that show, but people don't really remember that. Also the bumbling toff character is always more appealing to the wider British audience then say an intelligent bloke with a dry wit like Kennedy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted January 19, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 19, 2022 Yeah, I had some rather far left socialist leaning friends who used to love whenever he was on HIGNFY, which I'd always find concerning. I think they started wising to it around the time he was running for London Mayor.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Ronnie Posted January 19, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 19, 2022 There was HIGNFY you and Top Gear too, in which he excelled at portraying his character, and had Clarkson and the audience eating from the palm of his hand. He even makes an allusion to a "portrayal" at one point: The only person who didn't seem to have his eye off the ball was Eddie Mair, standing in for Andrew Marr in 2013: Otherwise, Johnson has had everybody (a Conservative mayor in London!) fawning over him as a result of his portrayal of "Boris", and the widespread propogation of by the media, parliamentarians from all parties, and the man in the street got him the top job in this country (although not quite as high as the level to which he aspired), a role he was always categorically unfit for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted January 19, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 19, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, BomberPat said: at the same time, I do have some sympathy for the argument that if getting on HIGNFY was enough to get you elected, we'd have sat through Prime Minister Charles Kennedy, Ken Livingstone, Neil Hamilton, Godfrey Bloom, Gyles Brandreth and William Shatner by now. Far more blame needs to be directed at the public school network, lobbyists and the journalistic world that Johnson came up through than at a daft panel show and the idiots who thought he was a character (though, admittedly, said panel show can be seen as a "soft power" wing of much of the wider issues that got us here). As Keith says below, it's more that it's great prep - not just HIGNFY, but light entertainment in general, because it's giving a "human side". It wouldn't have helped with Livingstone, because he'd been a well-known politician at the GLC first, and had kind of "blotted his copybook" that way. Neil Hamilton had already outed himself as a cunt and the show was simply his attempt at damage control - but showing your human side only gets you sympathy if your human side is someone who isn't a cunt. Same goes for Godfrey Bloom, and Gyles Brandreth had already been a Tory MP, and was too old by the time the Tories' next era came around. It's a case of "no single thing, but all of the above", and I agree the network, lobbyists, and journalists, not to mention the powerbrokers in the shadows who'd given Johnson their patronage, are all to blame.Ā 58 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said: I donāt think HIGNFY got him elected, but it allowed the Boris persona the national training ground that his privilege laid the foundations for. He had the professional connections but this gave him the public connection. As Iāve said before, itās a fantastic bordering on genius way the persona has been crafted.Ā It's one of the more annoying things about people in general that they can be influenced into liking someone just because they're seen in a context of fun. Look at what Strictly did with that utter shit Widdecombe. EDIT: Also, why that haunted turd Rees-Mogg has any kind of media profile at all. He's an abject wretch of a human being, but because he was on HIGNFY showcasing his Victorian accountant persona, he has some purchase with that section of the population who think politics and entertainment are the same thing.Ā Edited January 19, 2022 by Carbomb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewdogg Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 2 hours ago, Keith Houchen said: Ā Reminds me of when Ali G was in Parliament Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 1 hour ago, Vamp said: Aren't televised comedians largely from the same schools as major politicians? I think a good example of this is when āConservative Comedianā Geoff Norcott was on House Of Games, hosted by One of the high council of centrist dads Richard Osman. Loads of times when it was Norcotts answer, Osman was all āAwight Mate! Aahs it going me old Chinaā in a mock working class accent. Iāve never known him do that to any of the Footlight cunts that are on there.Ā Ā Regarding Rees-Mogg, heās another with a media persona. He and Johnson both know how in spite of their Bulldog Breed Dunkirk Blitz Spirit No Surrender attitude, a lot of English people are spineless servile forelock tugging lickspittles when they hear a posh accent and believe posh people should rule. Apparently the actual aristocracy laugh at Rees-Mogg because he affects a plummy accent to give the impression his family are the 17th earls of Inbredshire when in truth his dad was made a Lord in 1988.Ā Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Coconut Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 1 minute ago, Keith Houchen said: Bulldog Breed Dunkirk Blitz Spirit No Surrender Stiff upper lip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted January 19, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 19, 2022 (edited) 21 minutes ago, King Coconut said: Stiff upper lip! And this and thatĀ Isn't it?Ā Edited January 19, 2022 by jazzygeofferz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Just now, jazzygeofferz said: Isn't it?Ā MarvellousĀ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted January 20, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 20, 2022 16 hours ago, Keith Houchen said: I think a good example of this is when āConservative Comedianā Geoff Norcott was on House Of Games for someone who can't get booked because he's a right-wing comedian, the prick's on fucking everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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