The former Chancellor of the Exchequer did not hold back labeling the Prime Minister as a “contradiction” and stated the only person he cares about is himself. He also cast doubt over whether Brexit will still even happen. In the run-up to the general election Mr Osborne said he might vote for the Liberal Democrats instead of voting for Boris Johnson’s Conservatives.
He said: “One of the good things about my life is I have known Boris Johnson for twenty-five years and he is enormously entertaining and engaging and also a contradiction.
“He’s very talented and in many ways a brilliant political operator but often he will adopt causes to get him to the top that I don’t agree with including Brexit.”
Mr Osborne also revealed he hoped Mr Johnson would return to behaving as a “Doctor Jekyll” figure as opposed to acting like the fictional character’s evil alter ego Mr Hyde.
READ MORE: Brexit warning: UK heading for hard Brexit due to Johnson stubbornness
He said: “I think he’s got what it takes to be the Prime Minister but I kind of wish he was the Doctor Jekyll side of Boris Johnson which is the liberal, tolerant, pro-immigration centrist Tory who was so successful in the city of London and not the Mr Hyde who is: divide the country, push Brexit to its political limits in order to eke out the advantage amongst the Brexiteers.
“I think he would be much better served being the Boris Johnson who was a very successful mayor.”
Osborne attempted to cover his tracks when insulting his university friend stating that despite his selfishness he could still be a successful Prime Minister if he aimed to unite the country rather than divide it.
He said: “He’s made it now. He’s at the top and sometimes prime ministers need to be reminded that they’ve made it and when they’ve made it they no longer need to be dividing the country because they’ve got the advantage of uniting the country and leading the country and that is what he should be: The Prime Minister for the 17 million people who voted for Brexit but also the 16 million people who voted for Remain.”
The Former Chancellor tried to repair some of the damage he had inflicted in his comments by stating that he believed that Mr Johnson’s “basic political instincts are the right ones.”
His comments surprised his host, Ruth Davidson who looked physically surprised by how open Mr Osborne was.
The host posed to Mr Osborne that he came across as somebody who seemed like he liked the Prime Minister and knew him well but “fundamentally agrees in the criticism that he doesn’t believe in anything?”
When the topic of Brexit was raised, Mr Osborne continued to tear into the Prime Minister by casting doubt over whether his Brexit deal will be since he will be quickly learning how dependent on Europe he is.
He said: “In practice, the Brexit he’s proposing and the Brexit we might end up, if there is going to be a Brexit, will be pretty closely aligned to Europe.”
Former Minister of State for Exiting the European Union David Jones recalled how desperate EU officials begged the UK to remain when he was at an EU summit.
More criticism of the Prime Minister may feature in the full-length interview between Ms Davidson and Mr Osborne which will air on LBC at 9pm this evening.
