Boris Johnson has given a glimpse into his post-Downing Street life – reading to his children more, doing DIY and painting cows.
The former PM opened up on how he has been filling his time in an interview with close ally Nadine Dorries for her new Talk TV show.
Mr Johnson has kept a relatively low profile since leaving No10 last summer, but many MPs still hope he will make a comeback to the front line.
However, this week he did a series of interviews on a visit to the US, berating Vladimir Putin and urging the UK to send fighter jets to Ukraine.
The former PM opened up on how he has been filling his time in an interview with close ally Nadine Dorries for her new Talk TV show
In the Talk TV appearance – being broadcast at 8pm tonight – Ms Dorries asked him whether he was now able to spend more time with his two small children
In the Talk TV appearance – being broadcast at 8pm tonight- Ms Dorries asked him whether he was now able to spend more time with his wife, Carrie, and their two small children.
‘What’s it like being at home with the kids? Are they seeing more of Dad?’ she said in clips released today.
Mr Johnson replied: ‘They are. Yes, and it’s fantastic because you know, I’ve got a very full day.
‘I’m doing lots of writing. Unless I specifically tell you otherwise, I’m doing stuff for Uxbridge and doing a lot of political work but yeah, it means I can do reading to them… building things. It’s great.’
Mr Johnson, the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, who has previously spoken about his love of model buses, added:
‘I’m building a garage for the quad bike. Not a big quad bike, it was a miniature quad bike. They’re too small for quad bikes.’
Mr Johnson also said he was enjoying doing more painting in his spare time. ‘I’ve got a project which is to master the form of the cow,’ he said.
Mr Johnson revealed during the Tory leadership campaign in 2019 that he had a hobby of making buses out of old wine crates.
He described how he would paint them red, populate the decks with small ‘happy’ figures, and add plastic wheels – although he acknowledged they were ‘not terribly good’.
Mr Johnson is also known to dabble in painting, emulating his hero Churchill, whose oil canvasses can command significant prices.
During a quickfire series of questions on Talk TV, Mr Johnson was pressed on whether he would rather be stuck in a lift with Keir Starmer or Nicola Sturgeon.
‘Oh brother. Oh actually, it’s like all these things, and I’m sure viewers will understand this, both individuals are actually far nicer and more amusing than you might otherwise imagine,’ he said.
‘The kind of hostility you see between politicians on screen is often not reflected in real life. I think, provided it wasn’t like 50 floors, I wouldn’t mind either of them.’
Mr Johnson has been urging Brits to ignore ‘gloom-mongers’ as senior EU players in the Brexit saga weighed in on three-year anniversary of Brexit.
The most left-field claim came from wacky former Belgian PM and arch federalist Guy Verhofstadt, who suggested Brexit was to blame for Vladimir Putin’s bloody invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile former EU negotiator Michel Barnier suggested that the UK had seen ‘no added value’ from leaving. He also lauded Keir Starmer as ‘a European’, something the Labour leader may not appreciate as he tries to keep his party happy.
Boris Johnson has hailed Brexit for ‘literally saving lives’ as he was interviewed by close ally Nadine Dorries
But Mr Johnson said Brexit had enabled Britain’s pharmaceutical watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), to act swiftly and independently to secure Covid vaccines.
Speaking to Ms Dorries, he added: ‘Thank goodness that era is behind us, but one thing people forget – now let’s pray it’s behind us – but one thing people forget, thinking about the vaccine rollout… we’ve got the, I think, the third anniversary of Brexit coming up, or the third anniversary of the day when we actually came out of the EU.
‘You don’t hear it much these days, but it is absolutely the case that had it not been for our ability to do our own regulation, had it not been for the fact that we’d come out of the European Medicines Agency, the MHRA… was now totally free to decide how fast to approve the vaccine. We wouldn’t have been able to do that vaccine rollout so fast.
‘And you know, it is literally true that Brexit helped save lives. And people’s eyes bulge a bit when you say that, but it happens to be true… I’m proud of that. I’m proud of all the work that those people did.’
Mr Johnson also addressed the ongoing investigation by the Commons Privileges Committee into his Partygate conduct.
He insisted he would be ‘respectful’ of the process, but said anyone who thought he had deliberately covered up lockdown parties in No10 was ‘out of their mind’.
Boris Johnson on…
Family time
‘It’s fantastic because you know, I’ve got a very full day…
‘I’m doing lots of writing. Unless I specifically tell you otherwise, I’m doing stuff for Uxbridge and doing a lot of political work but yeah, it means I can do reading to them… building things. It’s great.’
Mr Johnson – who has previously spoken about his love of model buses – explained that his DIY activity involved constructing a garage for a mini-quad bike.
‘I’m building a garage for the quad bike. Not a big quad bike, it was a miniature quad bike. They’re too small for quad bikes,’ he said.
Painting
‘I’ve got a project which is to master the form of the cow,’ he said.
Brexit
‘One thing people forget, thinking about the vaccine rollout is there we’ve got the, I think the third anniversary of Brexit, coming up, or the third anniversary of the day when we actually came out of the EU.
‘You don’t hear it much these days, but it is absolutely the case, that had it not been for our ability to do our own regulation, had it not been for the fact that we’d come out of the European Medicines Agency, the MHRA… was now totally free to decide how fast to approve the vaccine. We wouldn’t have been able to do that vaccine rollout so fast.
‘And you know, it is literally true that Brexit helped save lives. And people’s eyes bulge a bit when you say that, but it happens to be true… I’m proud of that. I’m proud of all the work that those people did.’
Political rivals
During a quickfire series of questions, Mr Johnson was pressed on whether he would rather be stuck in a lift with Keir Starmer or Nicola Sturgeon.
‘Oh brother. Oh actually, it’s like all these things, and I’m sure viewers will understand this, both individuals are actually far nicer and more amusing than you might otherwise imagine,’ he said.
‘The kind of hostility you see between politicians on screen is often not reflected in real life. I think, provided it wasn’t like 50 floors, I wouldn’t mind either of them.’
Partygate
Mr Johnson insisted he will be ‘respectful’ of the process with the Commons Privileges Committee, but said anyone who thought he had deliberately covered up lockdown parties in No10 was ‘out of their mind’.
‘I would never say never about Boris Johnson’: Ex-PM may yet find a way back to No10, says ally
Boris Johnson could find a way of becoming prime minister again, a former aide has claimed.
Lord Udny-Lister said he would never rule out a comeback by Mr Johnson, who was ousted from power after three years last September.
It comes as Rishi Sunak flounders in the polls, with the Tories up to 25 per cent behind Labour. One survey suggested only 27 per cent of voters think he has done well since becoming Prime Minister in October.
And seven in ten believe he will not be PM after the next election, according to the poll for The Times.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson straightens his tie as he arrives at Parliament with Sir Edward Lister, his Chief of staff
Lord Udny-Lister predicts it is possible that Boris Johnson could return to power
Lord Udny-Lister, who worked for years with Mr Johnson at No10 and when he was London Mayor, said: ‘I would never say never about Boris Johnson… because I think he has such tremendous skills. And I think there is a route back for him.’ He told radio station LBC that Mr Sunak can win the next general election – due in 2024 – but warned: ‘The path to victory is a very narrow one.
‘I think it is going to be quite difficult for him – he’s not a Boris Johnson. He can’t get out there and tell the story in the way Boris Johnson could.’
He hailed Mr Johnson as ‘probably the best campaigner we’ve ever seen’, adding: ‘Rishi Sunak hasn’t got those skills, but what he has got – and I’ve seen him at work – is he is a very analytical man, who does go through things in detail, is very cautious, is going to do the right thing.’
He stressed: ‘We have a prime minister who really is the chief financial officer rather than the chief executive… now can Rishi Sunak make the transition? Can he actually get out there and start telling the story?’
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson was asked about his political future in an interview with America’s ABC News Live. He said: ‘You never say never in politics. But the reality is that I am living a happy productive life.
‘I have got to write two books – and if you ask me what my passion at the moment it is making sure we… help the Ukrainians.’
Pressed again on his future, he added: ‘I’m thudding away on my computer. You know what it is like – books don’t write themselves.’
