A frank interview from Boris this afternoon as he sat down in No.10 with Mumsnet to answer questions from the site’s users on everything from Partygate and leadership, to his own parenting skills and favourite children’s books. From the sounds of it, mums have soured on Boris in the months since they rallied behind him over his sensible stance on trans women in sport. According to Roberts, the overall mood on the site is that Boris is “a habitual liar” and should step down. A conclusion Boris naturally disagreed with…

Aside from the expected questions on Partygate – he claims it’s “been a totally miserable experience for people in government” and “we’ve got to learn from it [and] move forward” – Boris also responded to questions on his own parenting skills by claiming he’s “doing a lot” at the moment with very quick nappy changes. He also claims his favourite children’s books are by Dr. Seuss:

“I’m doing a lot. All I would say is that I’m doing a lot at the moment… I say that without any inhibition or fear of contradiction. I can tell you I’ve changed a lot of nappies… I’m very fast by the way… This was no time for playing. This was no time for fun. This was no time for games. There was work to be done… which is our motto in Number 10.”

He also said it would be not be “responsible” to “abandon the project” and resign over Partygate. Guido imagines his advisors are pretty upset, as he also reviewed their lockdown-breaking surprise birthday party as “a miserable event”…

Guido checked in on Mumsnet for reaction to Boris making it clear where he stands on the integrity of women’s sports, and on trans issues with regard to children suffering with gender dysphoria. It is fair to say that even non-Tory mums are cheering. A common theme was that this was “a hill to die on” and the trans lobby is attacking women’s rights. Mothers referenced daughters as a reason for taking the line they did. Frustration with Starmer’s fence-sitting on the issue was clear and frequently profane…

Mumsnet, the motherhood focused website which has been going for 20 years, has long been caricatured as a coven of Waitrose-wine-glugging, liberal, Guardian reading, middle class mums. There is some truth in it; they have championed right-on campaigns on #MeToo, desexualising girls clothes, against gender stereotyping clothes and toys – though Guido notes with regret, somehow never championing toy guns for girls. The founder of Mumsnet, Justine Roberts, told the Guardian she was most

proud that Mumsnet seems to have given mothers a platform to express themselves in all their magnificent variety, and I’m pleased that so many users (58%) say Mumsnet has made them more likely to consider issues from a feminist perspective.

Safe to say, it has not been the place to find feminist Tory voters. Until this Wednesday.

Following on from Keir Starmer saying “trans women are women”, Boris was asked at PMQs by Angel Richardson about the issue of “gender distress”. Boris said in his response, “when it comes to distinguishing between a man and a woman, the basic facts of biology remain overwhelmingly important.” This might seem like basic common sense, however biological facts are no longer accepted by much of the Labour Party…  

Mumsnet’s readers reacted with an ecstatic chat thread, “Boris Johnson Just Stated that Biology Dictates What is a Man / Woman“ with over a hundred comments of which 99% were positive for Boris. Here they are to show just how radicalising an issue Labour’s toxic woke policies are:

This week Tony Blair warned the Labour Party in the New Statesman that wokeness will cost them working class votes:

If you look at the culture wars, identity politics, it’s exactly the same as the 1980s. If Labour gets in the wrong place on these things, it’ll alienate part of the working-class vote, a part of which is small-c conservative. If you look as if, on identity politics or culture, you are far away from those people, you’ll frighten them: they won’t vote for you.

Looks like it will cost Starmer middle class women’s votes too…