Boris Johnson 'trying to do it the Express & Star way'
Boris Johnson reflected on his time as an Express & Star journalist during a Downing Street speech to the nation’s regional press.
The Prime Minister hailed the newspaper’s former news chief Dave Knight, who he said had instilled in him the motto: “Do it the right way, do it the Express and Star way.”
“I’ve tried to follow that,” Mr Johnson said, adding that he was the first UK Prime Minister to have begun a professional career as a journalist on a regional newspaper, having worked at the E&S for a brief period in the 1980s.
He said: “If there was a toddler locked in the toilet, or a cat stuck up a tree, or if an elderly gentleman had discovered an unexploded World War Two bomb in his back garden, as often happened, then I would be sent on that story.”
Mr Johnson has undergone a torrid time since becoming Prime Minister in July, losing a series of votes on Brexit and seeing his plan to suspend Parliament ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court.
Praising the role of local newspapers, he told the audience of editors: “You are the cultural news, political lifeblood of the areas that you serve and I have one mission in my remaining time in No 10, however long that may be – and it might be longer than some of you think – I have one mission which is, as you know, to keep you supplied with stories.”
The Prime Minister also fielded questions about his plans to support local newspapers.
The event followed a crucial Cabinet meeting ahead of the Conservative Party conference, which started yesterday in Manchester.
