Boris Johnson scoops Channel 4 award
The Conservative MP for Henley Boris Johnson has won the Channel 4 award for the person who made the biggest impression on British politics last year.
The Spectator editor topped a shortlist of six for the award held in association with the Hansard Society.
Mr Johnson beat Fathers 4 Justice’s Jason Hatch, who scaled Buckingham Palace dressed as Batman; former Home Secretary David Blunkett, who resigned over allegations he fast-tracked a visa application for former lover Kimberly Quinn, who also appeared on the list; U2’s lead singer Bono, campaigner against poverty in Africa, and former UKIP member Robert Kilroy-Silk.
The Old Etonian caused a political storm in 2004 when his magazine – the Spectator – printed an editorial suggesting Liverpudlians were wallowing in victim status following the death of fellow Merseysider Ken Bigley, who was killed in Iraq.
Mr Johnson is the Tory MP for Henley – one of the Conservative’s safest seats and the former seat of Michael Heseltine.
One of the most recognisable Conservative MPs, Mr Johnson is a political journalist by profession and minor media personality in his own right. Mr Johnson has been the editor of The Spectator since 1999 and writes a weekly column in the Daily Telegraph.
In 2004, after being nominated for a BAFTA for his guest-presenter role on “Have I Got News for You”, Mr Johnson was appointed to the Conservative front bench as Shadow Arts Minister – a post which he left in November 2004 after being sacked for allegedly misleading the Michael Howard over press claims that he had an extra-marital affair.
The Channel Four Political Awards will be televised on Monday, February 14.
