TRANSPORT Secretary Grant Shapps has downplayed the booing received by Boris Johnson during Jubilee celebrations, arguing there were "also people cheering".
Speaking to the BBC's Sunday Morning programme days after the Prime Minister and his wife were heavily booed by royal-loving crowds, Shapps said “politicians don’t expect to be popular all the time”.
The Tory minister argued the Government should focus on running the country and not people booing Johnson.
Asked about the incident outside St Paul's Cathedral ahead of Friday's thanksgiving service, Shapps said: “Well, there were also people cheering and you’re not asking me why they did that.
“Look, politicians don’t expect to be popular all the time. You know, getting on with running the country is a job where you have to take difficult decisions a lot of the time. I wasn’t there, but I heard people booing, I heard people cheering, I think it’s best to get on with the job at hand – running the country – rather than being overly distracted by the clips that you just played.”
He added: “I remember booing going on at the Olympic Games in 2012, it didn’t mean that the election wasn’t won in 2015. I think you’re rather overinterpreting, if you don’t mind me saying.”
Asked why people were booing, he said: “Politicians by their very nature … will of course divide opinion. That’s what politicians do. That’s because we argue about different sides of issues.”
He added that having a monarch means “everyone can join together and support the Queen regardless of their politics”, adding it “frankly I think it demonstrates one of the beauties of our system”.
Asked why other politicians were not booed, Shapps said: “Well, he’s the Prime Minister, rather different from an ex-prime minister or a more minor politician.”
Later in the programme Shapps said he does not believe Boris Johnson will face a confidence vote this week, after reports suggested the threshold of letters required may have been met - and polls showed dismal predictions for the Tories.
Asked if the Prime Minister will “be out” if the Conservatives lose both by-elections on June 23, Shapps said: “No. Look … when it comes to a General Election people look at government and they look at it in the round, they look at what you’ve done.”
He outlined UK Government policies and actions, including its response to the pandemic, plans to address social care and tackling the cost of living.
Asked if he believes there is going to be a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister this week, Shapps said: “No, I don’t … actually in the round when people judge Government by the general election, rather than mid-term where it’s not unusual to see polling like this, actually people make a decision about whether you’ve delivered and done a good for the country as a whole.
“I’m absolutely certain, with some of these huge decisions, sorting out Brexit, getting through coronavirus, seeing the largest growing economy last year, these are decisions and actions which will in the end matter to people.”
Asked if the Prime Minister would win a vote of confidence, Shapps said: “Yes, he will.”
