Boris Johnson’s announcement of his intentions to become an MP next year made it on to the front pages of every national newspaper bar one – the Daily Mirror – today.
“BORIS FEVER,” roared the Daily Mail, “Enter Boris,” said The Times and “Yikes!” said The Independent on the top section of its front page. The Daily Star, meanwhile, wrote in its headline what others were speculating about: “Boris sets sights on PM’s job”.
No doubt the press will have an opinion over who should lead the Conservative Party. And to gauge who they'd back, Axegrinder decided use the fairest way – and, admittedly, one of the easiest ways: by looking at the pair's register of gifts, gratuities and meetings, etc.
Cameron’s last register was for the period from October to December last year, so Axegrinder here compares his press encounters with Johnson’s (pictured, Reuters) in the same period:
With a trip to Italy and more dinners – as opposed to meetings – Johnson appears to have recieved the best gifts. And there can be no doubt that a dinner with Rupert Murdoch is significant.
But Cameron has the edge in terms of diversity: he has registered meetings or dinners with representatives from six different media groups. Johnson's have come from two.
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