I've had a request to read for this by a friend from Twitter, angelneptustar, who despite our differences in opinion - she is more Conservative at present than I am - has had the patience to put up with my rants for a while now. She requested a reading on Twitter about Boris Johnson and his chances for PM, and although I am initially sceptical and am inclined to say no outright - for matters of mundane opinion as well as higher guidance - I want to see what the cards say about Boris' real purpose here. Not ruling out a higher station for now, but the obstacles against Boris as PM are currently high, particularly if the Tories do pull off an election win. Since he would have to relinquish his post as Mayor, with three years to run on that ticket that would make him have to wait until the next but one general election; he would also have to work his way up to the top through a potential Conservative Cabinet and survive the intense scrutiny of performance not in opposition but in government. While he is - according to Owlperson who lives within his jurisdiction - a fairly all right Mayor, his response to the scrutiny committee suggested to me that he would not survive the harsher scrutiny a Prime Minister or senior Cabinet minister would face in office, and I'm not 100% sure that behind the facade he really appreciates the magnitude of even the London job. He would do better concentrating on other projects - but that's just my opinion.
Spiritually speaking, Boris is in fact an angel incarnated, with a frog totem (which gives him his bouncy nature and his buffoonish enjoyment of the good life; other frogs in politics have been David Mellor - previously Minister for Far Too Much Fun - and Ann Widdecombe, again someone whose cheery and optimistic outlook on life nevertheless has led to her skimming over the surface rather than forging a brilliant (Shadow) Cabinet career on the back of her initial rise to prominence as the nemesis of Michael Howard. Howard fared much better than Widdecombe in the end because of his Bubo Scandiaca owl totem allowing a deeper and less superficial basis to keep him going in tough times and to work harder to achieve what he wanted in government and opposition. In Widdecombe's case her love of celebrity and diletanttism, coupled with a common attribute of frogs - a deep idealism sitting ill-at-ease with the demands for compromise in government. Boris' angelic nature makes him a place-holder for tasks which might otherwise fall to those who would use them for darker purposes. When we are talking of purposes at a higher level, we have to look at the bigger picture. Boris fits because he is charismatic, but lacks the more dangerous ambition that might corrupt him. With Pluto in Capricorn passing the baton to us in terms of cataclysmic events, we need all the help we can get.
What do the cards say? Sticking with the Magic cards, let's have a look.
Reasons for Boris to be here in the first place.
Ogre Leadfoot: Creature - Ogre
"When the goblins need more scrap for the Great Furnace, they simply let the ogres loose and follow in their wake."
If Angel will forgive me in comparing the Tories to Goblins, it seems that Boris represents the harbinger of Conservative rule returning, but the chaotic nature of the red card "suit" in Magic suggests something random and unplanned to Boris, which is balanced only by the ability of the job to grow on Mr Johnson. I think Boris is not necessarily aware of this, but there is a certain way to which he was used by the Tories last year to put up a better candidate who could trump Livingstone, and indeed the closeness of the result suggests it was Boris' personality which finally won it rather than the Tory label. So Boris is firstly here to restore the Tories to a governing position, though he is manipulated from behind the scenes - not a good quality in an ultimate leader.
Reasons Boris went for London.
Fatal Attraction: Enchantment - Aura
Again, a red card. The card is one used on an opponent's creature, not on your own, as it damages the creature, either crippling it turn after turn or killing it outright. Thus perhaps Boris, again at the request of his party (though it was more complicated than that, according to Owlperson), was used against Labour, not for the Tories. Such a short-sighted view of political necessities - such as the ability to govern as well as just win - will only exacerbate the negative influence of Pluto in Capricorn in the year to come. The old order - that currently in sway and that which Pluto will wipe away - is more concerned with scoring victories, whether Labour's "historic third term" which has been historic in all the wrong ways, or the Conservatives' coup in London - lives to win rather than govern. This is crippling not only both parties but government itself - and thus the negative aura around this card.
Boris as a man
Thick-Skinned Goblin: Creature - Goblin Shaman
The shaman of the tribe is responsible for keeping track of all its treasures, including angry pets and cursed lamps of fiery doom.
I'm sorry, Angel, I don't mean that Boris is a bad goblin, merely that in keeping with the cards around him, he is at least maintaining something in the way of a balance, making a go of running London, and taming angry pets like Sir Ian Blair or his own officials. He is going somewhere, but in the context of what cards are in my reading pack at the moment, I'm not sure this is entirely optimistic as a result.
Boris as a politician
Nightshade Assassin: Creature - Human Assassin
Again, an equivocal card. Boris is "playable" as a joker, a wild card (though not our Vodalian Mage) and someone to strike hard and take others by surprise. Labour perhaps thought they could win indefinitely with Ken, and my cousin believes that Ken may not be long gone or gone long. Boris needs to deepen himself and not be such a tool - literally - if he wants to be PM, and even then I'm not positive he will be. In fact, I'm quite negative on that score given the cards surrounding him.
Boris' roots
Basalt Gargoyle: Creature - Gargoyle
He is resilient; he bounces, in Owlperson's words. There is nothing really explicit here - aside again from the firey side of his nature (Boris is an air sign, a Gemini, but these cards suggests he might have several fire signs around him) - except a feeling that his resilience does count for him rather than against in any power struggle or leadership bid. But this can't tell the whole story - we need to look at how he would govern the country if given the chance.
Boris' seeds in politics - what is his legacy?
Pendelhaven Elder: Creature - Elf Shaman
The elder who carries the ancestral mantle of Jacques le Vert is tasked with his ancient mission: to protect the creatures of Pendelhaven.
Boris does give strength to others; the leadership issue here is muted but present; again however he has fulfilled that promise with London and I don't believe Owlperson agrees that the future is mutable enough to allow him to slip a few years in Downing Street onto his CV. But this shows us that Boris has developed something enough to sustain him after he leaves the Mayoralty; a backseat position perhaps; advising, explaining, teaching, acting as a raconteur for the next generations but not in a foremost leadership role. I do "never say never", but Prime Ministers are not chosen on the whim of a few years as a bon viveur; Owlperson counsels that to him this card says venerable journalist and even eminence grise rather than kingmaker or indeed king.
Prospects this year
Krovikan Rot: Instant
Boris doesn't appear to be able to escape Pluto in Capricorn either. The difficulties for the whole country are intensifying, and he is neither immune nor the immediate answer, although the Elder above suggests he survives the coming storm, although Owlie adds: barely. The "Recover" keyword suggests that Boris is salvageable, but the card does promise danger ahead for all concerned. Sadly I'm not sure Boris is best placed to make the most of this crisis as a leadership contender.
So - PM - yes or no?
Lightning Storm: Instant
Danger strikes first. Boris is not in parliament, so he faces a struggle to get back in. No doubt paths may be smoothed - Kensington and Chelsea might surprisingly end up vacant, though Rifkind has been glossed over as far as I've seen during this scandal - but if he wanted to be in a position to make the most of this issue or this crisis he is not for the moment a contender. Lightning may strike for him, but it may equally strike him down. Going by Owlperson's information, it is more likely to be the latter, because he like most others in this saga has behaved with lax abandon and not kept himself out of the fray for later. Our Vodalian Mage friend has done just that. Boris may be a wild card, but he is not the Vodalian Mage.
In a sense, Boris will never be PM because he just is not the right person at the right time. He is not even yet in the running, and if the Conservative Party wants a serious crack at government, then they have to stop looking for fresh meat and capitalise on the situation at hand. Although as I have established Labour will be put to flight by one of us - I still think of myself as a Tory, if at the moment rather manque - it might not be Boris as the timings, totems and characters of the relevant people conspire against him, and the Tories in David Cameron already have a candidate for now (although again, Cameron is not, I believe, the Vodalian Mage).
