Dominic Grieve: Boris Johnson Might Be "Surprisingly Successful"

22 June 2019, 12:50

Tory Remainer Dominic Grieve tells LBC Boris Johnson could make a "surprisingly successful" Prime Minister.

The Conservative MP told Matt Frei "character matters" if somebody is running to be Prime Minister, but added there were also previous successful Prime Ministers with "very flawed personalities".

"We can look back through British history and see successful Prime Ministers who some people say had very flawed personalities," he said.

"Lloyd George was the person who undoubtedly had deep flaws to his personality, and historians who write about him can make assessments of him as an individual that can be extremely critical - but that doesn't mean to say he was an unsuccessful Prime Minister.

"Character matters because if somebody is going to be Prime Minister, then the question as to their reliability, honesty, consistency, are obviously issues that have to be factored in."

Speaking specifically about leadership candidate Boris Johnson, the pro-Remain MP described the frontrunner's tenure as Foreign Secretary as "very unsuccessful" who did not "discharge those responsibilities well".

"I also think, and have been openly critical to the fact, he was disloyal to the Prime Minister during that period and seemed unable to understand collective cabinet responsibility - without which cabinet and government can not operate.

"Equally I can't rule out the fact that Boris Johnson might turn out to be surprisingly successful, such things can happen, but I don't think he's the right person to be Prime Minister."

Asked about an incident in which police were called to Mr Johnson's home after receiving "concerns for the welfare of a woman", Mr Grieve said: "I don't think [the incident] makes any difference one way or the other to my own assessment which has come over many years of seeing him in operation."

Watch above.