I like to imagine that Barnaby Joyce had a smile on his face when he woke up this morning and saw Boris Johnson meeting the Queen.
Because while the world is trying to dig deep to find the reason why this guy…
...is now the most powerful person a country of 66-million, Joyce was thinking, "Hey, hey, I'm not dead yet".
Boris Johnson, the new Prime Minister of Great Britain, is a buffoon, but, many say, a rather calculated one. Reporters whisper that he deliberately runs his hands through his hair before every TV appearance to give himself that undone, mad-professor look. That he arrives at events appearing to be running late and disorganised and under-prepared, when really he knows exactly which long words (he went to Eton, and Oxford, don't you know) he's going to pull out to wow the crowd.
On the latest episode of Mamamia Out Loud, Mia, Holly and Jessie break down just who the new British PM is, why the world is obsessed with Bryon Bay’s Murfers and why the Adam Goodes documentary is essential viewing. Post continues after audio.
Johnson played a long game, gaining and losing prominent Cabinet positions according to his allegiances. Many say that he's played up being a bumbling 'fool' to disguise his ambition.
Which is, interesting, because here's how Independent MP Tony Windsor describes Barnaby Joyce:
"I say to some of the reporters in the media, 'Why don't you take him to task, drill down on the detail. They say, 'We don't really take him seriously, he's just Barnaby.' They see him as a quirky figure who appeals to people in the country..." And yet, he became Deputy Prime Minister.
Boris Johnson is prone to putting his foot in his mouth. And that's putting it politely. Boris is on the record as saying, in 2005, that "Voting Tory [Conservative] will cause your wife to have bigger breasts and increase your chances of owning a BMW M3." And he likened women in burkas to letterboxes and bank robbers.
Let's remember Barnaby's comments about women's fashions. "Women can wear what they like to the beach so long as they’re wearing something. I enjoy having a beer with my mates at Sydney’s Watto Bay pub where we can talk about God’s beautiful creations as they walk by".
Also, Boris is a man who's survived a sex scandal or two (or three, who's counting these days?). Johnson married his second wife, Marina Wheeler, 12 days after divorcing his first, Allegra Mostyn-Owen, when Wheeler was heavily pregnant with their first child. Wheeler and Johnson went on to have three more children, but during their marriage, he had a series of affairs that became rather public, and fathered at least one child with at least one of his lovers. The details are hazy, with Wikipedia listing the number of children he has as between '4-6'. Wheeler and he finally divorced last year after Boris was papped eating out on Valentine's Day with his current girlfriend, Carrie Symonds.
Meanwhile, we all know Joyce is to blame for Parliament House's infamous "bonk ban" after his former staffer Vikki Campion fell pregnant.
Do you see why Barnaby's stock is up? An outspoken, PR-stunt friendly buffoon - Boris dangles from a zipwire, Barnaby turns up to Parliament in a tractor - with a complicated private life has just been elevated to the highest post in his country after a long and oft-humiliating wait?
It seems we're living in a gaffe-free time that favours the brazen. And all because the general public like these guys and their supposedly straight-shooting brand of "telling it like it is". The spin that there's no spin.
Well, ScoMo, you'd better watch your back because BarJo will have seen BoJo finally getting his sash and got all kinds of funny ideas.
Let's all look forward to the current leader of the Nationals, Michael McCormack, desperately trying to make himself more interesting. And having another crack at making 'MickMack' happen.
#prayforus
Do you think Australia is ready for a Barnaby comeback?
