Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
(Picture: PA Archive)So, Boris Johnson has gone. Well, sort of — he’s resigned and said he’ll stay on as PM until a replacement is found by the autumn.
The PM will leave many legacies — his Brexit deal, his pandemic handling, his relations with Ukrainian president Zelensky — but he’ll also leave behind some of the most memorable quotes of any recent British leader. Remember the time he quoted Batman in his opening speech and talked about Peppa Pig to business leaders?
From his controversial thoughts on working from home (and cheese) to his surprising take-down of Kier Starmer, here are some of his best quotes from his three years in office.
On becoming PM when he was an MP:
Clearly, the writing wasn’t always on the wall - or at least Johnson liked to suggest it wasn’t.
In 2003, while serving as MP for Henley as well as editor of The Spectator, he was quoted as saying: “I have as much chance of becoming Prime Minister as of being decapitated by a frisbee or of finding Elvis.”
On becoming PM:
Obviously, Johnson started his premiership as he meant to go on: with bombshell quotes and “down-to-earth” film references. The most memorable part of his debut speech as PM? The moment he quoted Batman character Bane from The Dark Knight Rises.
“The time has come to act, to take decisions, to give strong leadership and to change this country for the better,” he said, addressing the country outside Downing Street. “My job is to serve you, the people.”
On cake (and politics):
One of Johnson’s most famous quips might have predated Brexit but it often re-surfaced after the referendum.
“My policy on cake is pro having it and pro eating it,” he once said while serving as Mayor of London, a phrase which some quickly started to use as shorthand for his approach to politics.
On meeting Covid patients:
During a press conference about coronavirus, March 2020, Johnson revealed:
“I was at the hospital the other night where I think there were actually a few coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody, you’ll be pleased to know, and I continue to shake hands.”
Considering that COVID-19 is highly infectious and it was advised by the World Health Organization that we should be taking extra precautions by washing our hands and standing at least six feet away from each other, Johnson’s announcement that he had single-handled become a potential superspreader in a hospital raised more than a few eyebrows.
Just weeks later, Johnson found out about those dangers all too well himself when he ended up on a ventilator in hospital.
On working from home:
In an interview with the Daily Mail in May 2022, Johnson made the case for workers to get back to in-person working, sharing his own work-from-home experience.
“There is absolutely no one, apart from yourself, who can prevent you, in the middle of the night, from sneaking down to tidy up the edges of that hunk of cheese at the back of the fridge.”
On Jeremy Corbyn:
During PMQs in 2019, Boris Johnson takes aim at the then-Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn.
“I know he’s worried about free trade deals with America but there’s only one chlorinated chicken that I can see in this House and he’s on that bench.”
On Kier Starmer:
During Prime Minister’s Questions on 22 July 2020, Boris Johnson took aim at Sir Kier Starmer when Starmer pressed him on the lack of action regarding weaknesses in Britain’s national security.
“The Leader of the Opposition has more flip-flops than Bournemouth beach.”
On his love of John Lewis:
Boris Johnson responded in an interview about reports that his then-fiance Carrie Symonds’ friends called the No.10 flat a “John Lewis nightmare” in April 2021.
“The one thing I object to in this whole farrago of nonsense is that I love John Lewis.”
On Jeremy Corbyn not submitting the “surrender Bill” in an election:
Boris Johnson took aim at Jeremy Corbyn when he said he would submit the “surrender Bill” to the verdict of the people in an election.
“We think the friends of this country can be found in Paris, Berlin and in the White House, and he thinks they’re in the Kremlin, Tehran and in Caracas – and I think he is Caracas, Mr Speaker.”
On returning to the office post-pandemic:
During an interview with LBC in November 2021, Boris Johnson suggested workers who do not return to physical offices risk being gossiped about, taking aim at the civil servants who continued to work from home.
“You’ve got to know what everyone else is talking about. Otherwise, you’re going to be gossiped about and you’re going to lose out.”
On farming and crofting families:
This was in response to SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford after he quizzed the Prime Minister on a potential post-Brexit deal with Australia during Prime Minister’s Questions.
“I would like to see shots of his crofts by the way! The humble representative of the crofting community.”
On Peppa Pig World:
After briefly losing his notes during a keynote speech to the Confederation of British Industry in November 2021, Boris Johnson praised a visit to Peppa Pig World, a theme park in Hampshire, southern England.
“Peppa Pig World is very much my kind of place. It has very safe streets, discipline in schools, heavy emphasis on new mass transit systems.”
On the decision to remove lyrics from Land of Hope And Glory or Rule, Britannia:
Boris Johnson condemned in August 2021 the changing of lyrics in Rule, Britannia, as is traditionally sung at the end of the Last Night Of The Proms.
“I think it’s time we stopped our cringing embarrassment about our history, about our traditions, and about our culture, and we stopped this general bout of self-recrimination and wetness.”
On not being aware of the lockdown rules:
Johnson denied allegations in January 2022 that he was aware of a drinks party taking place at No 10 Downing Street, which breached lockdown restrictions.
“Nobody told me that what we were doing was against the rules, that the event in question was something that… was not a work event, and as I said in the House of Commons when I went out into that garden I thought that I was attending a work event.”
On Lorraine Kelly:
“Who’s Lorraine?”. Johnson probably never thought this would go down as one of his most famous phrases. This particular quote came just a couple of months ago when the PM appeared on ITV and interviewer Susanna Reid referenced ITV’s Lorraine show. His reaction? Asking who Lorraine was.
The Lorraine in question was, of course, beloved ITV presenter and national treasure Lorraine Kelly, who gracefully responded by saying the PM was welcome as a guest on her TV show “whenever he likes”.
On his resignation as Prime Minister:
During his resignation speech outside 10 Downing Street, Boris Johnson shared his disappointment of not being able to see through various projects and giving up “the best job in the world”.
“I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world, but them’s the breaks.”
