Boris Johnson would probably not have run a department in Thatcher government says Norman Tebbit
Boris Johnson is not a good "executive" and would probably not have run a department in one of Margaret Thatcher's governments in the 1980s, Norman Tebbit has said.
Lord Tebbit - who knew Mr Johnson when he was a non-executive director of the Spectator magazine and Mr Johnson was its editor - said that if Mr Johnson had risen to prominence in the 1980s he would probably not have been promoted further than party chairman.
The peer also told The Telegraph's Chopper's Politics podcast - which you can listen to easily on the player above, or subscribe to for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your podcast app - that the PM also risks becoming "a spokesman for Dominic Cummings" after the ousting of Cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill, the peer said.
Lord Tebbit who as Norman Tebbit held three Cabinet posts in Margaret Thatcher's government - party chairman, Trade and Industry Secretary, and Employment secretary from 1981 to 1987.
He said: "He might have finished up doing the job which I did at the end which was being party chairman - that is the most likely thing - Boris as party chairman, bringing the party forward, rather than Boris as an executive. I don't have the highest opinion of Boris as an executive."
Lord Tebbit was asked on today's Chopper's Politics podcast about the ousting of Sir Mark Sedwill as Cabinet secretary, which many have attributed to a power struggle with Mr Cummings, the Prime Minister's chief adviser.
Lord Tebbit replied: "Boris has to be careful that he doesn't find it has changed from being a Johnson government to being a Cummings government, and he has changed to be spokesman for Mr Cummings as opposed to the other way around."
Asked if he were worried that Mr Johnson had been captured by a small group of advisers in 10 Downing St, Lord Tebbit added: "Yes I think so. It is perfectly right and proper for the Prime Minister to decide who amongst his officials he wants to do which jobs.
"In my time in Government, in Thatcher's time, we had a better core of professional civil servants. The standard is not quite so high now."
He added: "The problem is we don't always know 'what is Boris', and 'what is Mr Cummings'."
Lord Tebbit was sceptical about what "Johnsonism" is as a political belief system: "It is about presentation. He is broadly speaking a liberal Conservative but as for his views on economics - they are flexible shall we say."
Lord Tebbit was generous about the Government's handling of the response to the Covid-19 crisis: "On the whole they have done about right. I can't think any other administration would have had some magic formula."
The peer also condemned campaigners who daubed messages on the Cenotaph Churchill's statue in Parliament Square, saying: "My contempt for these people who daubed the Cenotaph and tried to topple Churchill's statue is utter and complete. They are amongst the nastier creatures of life."
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