Boris Johnson Police Call Out Won't Change Opinion Of Him, Tory Pollster Says
23 June 2019, 09:33
A pollster who predicted the referendum result says an incident at Boris Johnson's home in which the police were called out to would not change people's views on the politician.
The Conservative MP and leadership candidate refused to answer questions about the incident at the first of 16 hustings, after reports of a row between him and his partner circulated.
Police were called to his home on Thursday night after a neighbour raised "concerns for the welfare" of a woman.
But speaking to Iain Dale at the party hustings event, Mr Johnson said he thought people did not "want to hear about that kind of thing" and instead spoke about the rear door of the new Routemaster buses and delivering the 2012 Olympics.
But Conservative peer and pollster Lord Robert Haywood told Ian Payne that Mr Johnson was right not to answer the question, suggesting that "the more you explain, the more you get asked questions".
"People have a view about individuals and if something happens which nearly confirms what they thought all along, it will have a limited impact," he said.
"The real impact comes with any politician where something appears to be out of character, people will have a view about Boris and probably much of this will be confirmed by the events and therefore won't change a lot of people's views."
