Europe

The Role of an Etonian Rivalry in Brexit

By
Eton

© DavidCallan

August 14, 2016 10:00 EDT
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Where does the rivalry between between Cameron and Johnson stem from?

Rivalries that begin at Eton tend to last a lifetime. This is certainly true in the case of David Cameron and Boris Johnson.

The two Brits first crossed paths at Eton where Johnson was the school star who played sport with great gusto, wore fancy waistcoats and became captain of the school. At the University of Oxford, Johnson continued his meteoric rise. He became the president of the Oxford Union but failed to get a first class degree. Irritatingly, Cameron did.

The two men then became members of Parliament and were fast rising up the greasy pole, but Johnson’s infamous infidelity gave Cameron the chance to throw him under a London double-decker bus.

Starting at around 4 minutes and 10 seconds into this BBC Newsnight report, a younger Cameron slyly smirks about Johnson’s fall from grace after his amour impropre.

In the video, the Beeb is prescient when it comments: “The in-out referendum campaign is a no holds barred battle, which could see the prime minister losing his crown jewels to his populist challenger.”

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.

Photo Credit: DavidCallan

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