Tony Blair was not initially hated. Neither was David Cameron.

COYP

Leaving aside "The fathering of an unknown number of children and left behind partners" which I don't think is relevant and is certainly not something new for senior politicians I'm not sure that Boris has a "statesman like aura" but he certainly has a great deal of charm and charisma and I think that the general populace agree judging by his overwhelming victory in the Conservative leadership and subsequent General elections

Both were hated by some at some point. Iraq war,brexit.
Starmer is only going to be hated because he is labour.

I don't hate him - not compared to some of other reprobates in the government. I just really don't get why he's so popular, especially among the working classes. He's just another under-qualified and over-ambitious Eton boy.

I believe that Boris has had children with as many partners as I have whereas I have married all of mine so I am hardly likely to criticize him on that score

It is his use of metaphor. Seriously. That is how he wins. Something in how the human psyche works. The way his speeches impact on people. Reaches them in a way that nobody else seems to at the moment. The only explanation, as kooky as that might sound. Throw in the genius that is Cummings with not only 'Take back Control' but the 'Get Brexit Done' spiel and you have almost the perfect example of how to hammer home an effective political message.

On the face of it and given how modern politics is meant to work then Johnson should have been dead and buried decades ago. Instead, he wins in London. Twice. And now has won a massive majority in Parliament along with ridding himself of virtually any and every serious critic from within his own party. Probably the most secure Western politician as matters stand at the moment.

I probably share many of your own misgivings about the man but the reality is that he connects with voters in a way that nobody else in modern British politics manages to do at the moment. And there is nobody on the Left who can come close to touching him as things stand. Starmer is wooden. Looks the part but ultimately an empty shell.

I suspect Johnson is going to be PM for as long as he wants to be in that office. The Left are moribund due to their spiral into a political purity that leaves them zero flexibility and there simply is no effective opposition to him from within his own party.

Johnson is political cat-nip. Whether you like him or loathe him, he can bring the votes home.

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." - 1984 - George Orwell.

You agree with his covid actions though.

Yep you’re completely right. I just don’t know how more people can’t see through it.

But you made the point and were right to before they became PM.

COYP

See through what though?

Personally I struggle to understand how anybody in the Labour Party voted for Starmer. Here is a man who led the Labour Party into adopting a policy that guaranteed they would lose the 2019 election. Absolute political suicide. Labour needed to win seats in England that had overwhelmingly voted Leave since 2014 in both European Elections and the 2016 referendum. I believe ALL of their target seats were Leave-supporting constituencies with zero electoral gain by backing a second referendum, let alone the farce that Labour was pushing.

Meaning Starmer was either a moron, which meant it was lunacy to vote for him, or else he sort to deliberately sabotage Labour from standing a chance. Actually wanting his own party to not only lose but lose badly. Making voting him the new leader even more stupid.

Yet he breezed it.

People rarely vote on logical grounds. Just need to accept it and try and work out what are the irrational ways to win elections.

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." - 1984 - George Orwell.