Southport journalist Martin Hovden writes: Boris Johnson received a Trump-like reception today as he closed the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester.

His loyal supporters had started queuing at 5.30am to see his 45-minute speech, all keen to be inspired, uplifted and entertained by their leader.

And he delivered.

The Prime Minister is a natural and witty orator, he connects with his supporters and the public, even when he makes a policy-light speech.

Delegates cheered and laughed throughout, thrilled by his tub-thumping positive vision of the UK...and delighted by his description of disco-going Michael Gove as “Bon Jon Govey”.

And once again he labelled the Labour leader as “Captain Hindsight” - adding “if Columbus had listened to Keir Starmer, he would be famous for discovering Tenerife....” At one stage, I was going to ring the organisers of this week’s Southport Comedy Festival and suggest a late booking.

But then it hit me. No mention by Boris of petrol shortages or the dangerous lack of HGV drivers or the empty shelves in our supermarkets. Or the huge increase in energy costs. Or the horrendous winter many say we are hurtling towards.

And absolutely no reference to today’s cruel and wicked cut to the Universal Credit £20 a week Covid uplift for those in need, of which 40% are in low-paying jobs.

As far as the Tory delegates are concerned, he was speaking to the converted. As for the non-political public, they will likely react by saying “that’s Boris for you..”

But beware the Ides of Manchester, Boris.

Think back to the huge popularity at one stage of Margaret Thatcher or Tony Blair. Or Boris’s hero Winston Churchill. It took time, but eventually adoration was replaced by contempt. And then they were out.

My prediction: Boris will win the next general election. After that he will have Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss snapping at his heels. Whether he achieves his hoped for 10-year term in office is up to you.

Boris's opponents just don't get it, which is good for him.

the dreaded thought of re-electing Boris will be even worse for the UK than Covid, or Brexit.

They keep breaking manifesto promises, and have no clue how to run a country for other than their chums.

Perhaps he could actually put money where his big mouth is and give a proper pay rise to NHS workers.

The only good tory is a lavatory.

If we’re just being honest, this whole “we’re creating a high wage economy” talk is a desperate bid to spin the narrative, and has only come about because the government firstly wouldn’t admit anything was wrong, then tried accepting things were wrong but not because of anything they’ve done, and now are claiming it was all “part of the plan” of becoming a high wage economy, hence the hastily announced minor minimum wage rise this week.

This was not planned at all, and is turning into a long-term cost of living crisis. We’re not “rebuilding” or “levelling up”, all the slogans are as vacuous as our Prime Minister. And if we’re not actually increasing productivity, then all we’ll get is a wage-price inflationary spiral.

The man is a serial liar, Google Boris Lies and there is enough to keep you occupied from now to kingdom come, he couldn't lie straight in bed I suppose his Parliamentary Privilege prevents him being hauled into Court day after day for misleading the Country with every word he utters.

There is an old saying you can't bluff a bluffer so I would imagine he is the King of Bluff. The words Confidence Trickster suit him better than Prime Minister.

It's interesting that the editor chooses to draw comparisons with Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and Winston Churchill as a prophecy of doom for Johnson, but two of those former PM's never lost a General Election and Churchill only lost in 1945 due to exceptional circumstances and was subsequently re-elected anyway. If my memory serves me correctly Thatcher and Blair won no fewer than six elections between them.

Perhaps a little historical research would not go amiss for his/her next political diatribe.

Reading what everyone has put, and I can agree with somethings, but the:-

You Gov Voting Intention 28-29 Sep:-

Con 39%

Lab 31%

Also,

The Most Popular Politicians & Political Figures (Q3 2021)

1 Rishi Sunak

2 Boris Johnson

7 Nicola Sturgeon

9 Nigel Farage

20 Sadiq Khan

22 Jacob Rees-Mogg

31 Jeremy Corbyn

33 Diane Abbott

45 Keir Starmer

Diane Abbott is more popular than Keir Starmer, which says it all really.

Keir has the presence of a cycling bollard, and if the Labour party want any chance of winning the next election (2024), they'll need to replace him and give his replacement a couple of years to sort his mess out.

Further to Tentill4's posting, in order for Labour to stand the remotest chance of winning the next GE then two things (at least) need to happen. Firstly, the SNP needs to implode because the chances of Labour forming a majority in the HoC without a decent number of seats north of the border are minimal. Secondly, Starmer needs to be ditched in favour of a candidate who the electorate believe would make a credible Prime Minister. Nobody in the current Shadow Cabinet comes close to fitting the bill and the only person waiting in the wings who might appeal to a sufficient number of voters is Andy Burnham. The problem with Burnham of course is that he is philosophically the reincarnation of Tony Blair and I'm not sure the left of the Labour Party could swallow that.