What Will Jittery Tory MPs Make Of Boris Johnson Being Booed By A Royal Crowd?

Social media reacts as the under pressure PM gets a taste of public anger.
Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie Johnson arrive for the national service of thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral, London.
Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie Johnson arrive for the national service of thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral, London.
Kirsty O'Connor via PA Wire/PA Images

Boris Johnson received a frosty reception from the public as he entered St Paul’s Cathedral for the service of thanksgiving – and pundits immediately seized on how the scene would be interpreted by Conservative MPs.

The prime minister faced boos – and a smattering of cheers – as he walked up the steps with wife Carrie Johnson to attend the Platinum Jubilee event on Friday.

The Prime Minister @BorisJohnson arriving with wife Carrie at St Paul’s Cathedral for the Platinum Thanksgiving Service is booed by some in the crowd@BBCNews pic.twitter.com/rHbBgX8Jzh

— Victoria Derbyshire (@vicderbyshire) June 3, 2022

It comes after months of controversy for Johnson and the Tory government following a number of rule-breaking Number 10 parties during lockdown.

After the report by senior civil servant Sue Gray found boozy drinks parties were held at the heart of government, there has been a drip-drip of Tory MPs calling for their leader to go.

There is a growing belief in Westminster that it is only a matter of when – not if – the 54 letters needed from Johnson’s MPs to trigger a confidence vote are reached.

And Friday won’t have helped.

It looked like a one-two punch from the crowd.

The PM was also heckled and booed more as he left the service, with one person saying “fuck off Boris”.

.@BorisJohnson booed relentlessly as he left @StPaulsLondon thanks giving with his wife @carrielbjohnson. #PlatinumJubilee pic.twitter.com/gTJ3dVdy6O

— Karl Turner MP (@KarlTurnerMP) June 3, 2022

Some on social media enjoyed it.

“Grandad, how did you spend the Platinum Jubilee weekend?”
“I watched the video of Boris Johnson being booed 2100 times.”

— Shaun Keaveny 💙 (@shaunwkeaveny) June 3, 2022

All these right-wing hacks who claim to speak for ordinary Britons now exploding as Harry and Meghan cheered, while Boris Johnson booed.

— Danny Wallace (@dannywallace) June 3, 2022

It's ok, he has a plan to win them over, they are gonna love him again when they can buy apples by the pound. https://t.co/WDWJOptgky

— Jess Phillips MP (@jessphillips) June 3, 2022

And a Johnson loyalist questioned it.

There were far, far more cheers, but that doesn’t make a good headline does it.

Queen’s thanksgiving service: Boos and jeers for Boris Johnson outside St Paul’shttps://t.co/7TFYaQDoWE

— Nadine Dorries (@NadineDorries) June 3, 2022

Genuine question; are you aware of the fact that other people can hear sounds

— James Felton (@JimMFelton) June 3, 2022

The point seemed to that the crowd was not the Johnson-hating usual suspects.

This is the sort of reception he might expect from protesters as he heads into Parliament on a work day, not from royalists outside St Paul’s on a jolly jubilee day.😬 https://t.co/i0rjgP6Q5z

— Sophia Sleigh (@SophiaSleigh) June 3, 2022

For a man like Boris Johnson, getting booed by the Queen's Jubilee crowds will hurt more than any police fine for lawbreaking ever will

— Sonia Sodha (@soniasodha) June 3, 2022

Getting booed by a jubilee crowd is really quite a feat for a Conservative PM. https://t.co/4B4jtdNAUn

— Will Jennings (@drjennings) June 3, 2022

Fair to say you wouldn’t expect the crowds outside St Paul’s for the Jubilee to be “woke brigade” Labour remainiac activists…

— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) June 3, 2022

Others speculated on the impact on his precarious hold on the party leadership.

In The Times, Conservative peer Danny Finkelstein wrote: “This is not a crowd that a Tory wants to lose.” Many on Twitter shared the view.

Prime Minister and Carrie Johnson booed by the crowd on the way into St Paul's Cathedral, though some counter-cheered. That will do little to steady Tory MPs' nerves.

— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) June 3, 2022

It's not exactly Ceausescu on the balcony. But Tory MPs will have noticed the boos for Boris. London crowd yes, but a crowd primarily made up of royal watchers.

— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) June 3, 2022

Other senior politicians have been booed at major occasions and survived- Tony Blair, George Osborne. Johnson is different because he doesn’t have any politics. His raison d’etre is to be loved and then voted for. If his public can’t stand him, there’s no reason for him to exist.

— Jonathan Lis (@jonlis1) June 3, 2022

Tory MPs when they heard the booing pic.twitter.com/aNwneeYMal

— Matt Chorley (@MattChorley) June 3, 2022
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