James O'Brien's reaction to Boris Johnson's huge general election victory

13 December 2019, 10:32

This is James O'Brien's response to Boris Johnson's big victory in the general election last night.

The Conservatives won a large majority in Thursday's poll and are expected to have 365 seats in the House of Commons - which would be a majority of 80.

The Tories took seats from Labour in Leave-supporting areas of the country, including Bolsover, Blyth, Doncaster and Darlington.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he will unite the country by getting Brexit done by the end of next month.

Speaking on his LBC show the day after the election, James gave his thoughts on both Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson following their very different performances.

He said: "The man who won the election last night has a list of lies longer than your arm already on his record.

"We may be about to see the first case of of a politician about to change its spots. Or it may be that the silver lining of this election for those of us unimpressed by Boris Johnson's track record is that we know he will throw anyone under the bus.

"He will throw anybody under the bus if it serves his purpose in the short term.

"This majority of 80 allows himself so much space that the question is what is he going to do with it?

"And the noises from the EU give almost grounds for optimism. I think the likelihood of a BRINO has increased."

Turning to Jeremy Corbyn, he added: "They will be queuing up to say it's the media's fault. Or it's the Zionist lobby's fault. Or it's the Centrists' fault. Or it's all Tony Blair's fault.

"It's everybody's fault except Jeremy Corbyn's fault.

"You're wrong. But I appreciate you're not ready to hear that yet. And that is the problem.

"You weren't ready to admit it after the last election. You weren't ready to admit it after the debacle of the Brexit referendum. You weren't ready to admit it after various catastrophes beset the leadership.

"You still kept the faith. For me, the way I feel is that the Brexit believers are very similar to the die-hard Corbynsitas.

"It was as if both were telling us all you had to do is believe more."