Boris Johnson booed as he arrives at St Paul’s
for platinum jubilee event
Prime minister greeted with whistles and jeers by
crowd waiting at cathedral for Queen’s thanksgiving service
Aubrey
Allegretti
@breeallegretti
Fri 3 Jun
2022 11.44 BST
Boris
Johnson was greeted by a chorus of boos as he arrived at the Queen’s platinum
jubilee thanksgiving service on Friday morning.
Stepping
out of his car when it pulled up at St Paul’s Cathedral in London with his
wife, Carrie, the prime minister was met with boos and whistles by frustrated
spectators.
During an
awkward 15-second walk up the stairs where senior royals, dignitaries and
politicians were marking the second day of celebrations to honour the Queen’s
70-year reign, Johnson appeared unfazed as he smiled and nodded.
A handful
of people in the crowds behind him could be seen clapping and there were some
high-pitched cheers.
When the
Labour leader, Keir Starmer, arrived minutes later, the crowd remained quiet.
Other
senior politicians who attended the service, which the Queen missed after
suffering discomfort on Thursday evening, included the home secretary, Priti
Patel, and foreign secretary, Liz Truss.
The moment
was reminiscent of the then chancellor, George Osborne, being booed during the
2012 Paralympic Games in London.
Johnson was
heckled on the campaign trail in the run-up to the 2019 election, but still won
an 80-seat majority in the House of Commons.
However,
being booed by the crowd that gathered outside St Paul’s, made up of royalists
who had camped for a front-row spot for hours, could be an ominous sign for
Johnson.
Dozens of
Tory MPs have questioned his leadership or called on him to quit in the
aftermath of a damning report into Partygate, which found that parties in
Downing Street lasted until 4am, with vomiting and wine spilled up walls.
More than
120 people were penalised by police over the gatherings, and while Johnson has
apologised, he has continued to insist he thought he was attending work events
and that it was important to keep staff’s morale high throughout the pandemic.
Earlier,
the head of the Grassroots Conservatives organisation, which represents
rank-and-file Tory members, called on Johnson to quit.
Ed Costello
told the Daily Telegraph: “I’ve come to the conclusion that he probably should
resign, and if he had any sense he would resign before he was pushed.
“He needs
to go before the next election, because some of what he has done will put off
voters. He just hasn’t been wholly honest about what went on, and it would have
been better if he ’fessed up and it would all have been over.”
Costello
said recent tax rises were “silly” given the cost of living crisis and
spiralling inflation, adding: “The tax rise is going to hit people at a time
when they’re already being hit, and the cut in benefits was a foolish thing to
do.”
However,
Johnson has been defended by several cabinet ministers in recent days.
Jacob
Rees-Mogg said this week that the prime minister remained “an enormous
electoral asset”.
He added:
“I think the idea that a change of leader would help the Conservatives is for
the birds. It would be the most divisive thing that the party could do.
“It’s an
exceptionally silly thing to want to try and open the door to Sir Keir Starmer,
assuming he manages to survive.”
Patel also
called the attempt by Tory MPs to oust Johnson a “sideshow” and told rebels to
“forget it”.
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