Boris Johnson criticised after election campaign appearance

The former Prime Minister made a surprise appearance at a Conservative Party rally in Chelsea on Tuesday night (July 2).

He thanked current PM Rishi Sunak for inviting him and encouraged the crowd to not let Labour get into power.

As reported by The Guardian he said: “They [Labour] can achieve nothing in this election except to usher in the most leftwing government since the war with a huge majority, and we must not let it happen.

'He is a fantastic campaigner' - @toryboypierce

'He looked a deranged idiot' - @Kevin_Maguire

Boris Johnson has made his first public appearance in the election campaign, warning supporters that Labour would “destroy so much of what we have achieved” pic.twitter.com/PmHbw6JgV9

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) July 3, 2024

“Don’t let the Putinistas deliver the Corbynistas. Don’t let Putin’s pet parrots give this entire country psittacosis – which is a disease you get, by the way, from cosying up to pet parrots."

What was the reaction to Boris Johnson's campaign appearance?

Good Morning Britain reacted to Boris Johnson's first campaign appearance just a couple of days before the 2024 General Election is set to take place.

The associate editor of the Daily Mirror Kevin Maguire, was not complimentary saying that Johnson was a "deranged idiot".

However, Daily Mail consultant editor and columnist Andrew Pierce was more impressed by the energy that Johnson brought to the rally.

He said: "He is a great campaigner, he electrified that meeting, great atmosphere, he's on a lot of front pages, he's on the airwaves.

"Some of the people that voted for Boris are the ones that are wavering and possibly going to Nigel Farage's Reform Party, and this was a direct appeal to them.

"Stay with the Tories, okay we haven't been great, we've messed up a lot but better the devil you know'".

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Overall, Pierce found Johnson's speech "electrifying", especially in comparison to other efforts from frontbench MPs within the party.

Some GMB viewers did not agree with his assessment, with one on X (formerly known as Twitter) writing: "There’s much to like about Andrew P, I think, but he’s got this wrong. Boris is a liar who can not be trusted."

Another shared: "I’m with @Kevin_Maguire. He looks and sounds no different to when I saw him as an after-dinner speaker in 2005. Incoherent clown then and no different now."