The government I lead will be driven not by the interests of the privileged few, but by yours [the citizens of the UK].

So said Theresa May as newly appointed PM of the UK. Unfortunately – and infuriatingly – by making Boris Johnson our UK Government’s Foreign Secretary, she has committed an egregious error of judgement and a massive #PRFail that contradicts her grandiose claim. 

Mere hours ago she started with a clean slate, to appoint whomever she wanted for the most important posts in government. And she chose Johnson. It beggars belief.

In one fell swoop she’s damaged her reputation for sound judgement and credibility as to her moral mission of doing justice and opportunity for all.

If Johnson is not one of the elite, the privileged few, then who the hell is? He’s Eton- and Oxford-educated, earns over £250,000 a year writing an outlandish Colonel Blimp-like column for the right-wing Daily Telegraph (a salary he ignorantly and audaciously characterised as mere “chicken feed”), never mind his salary as an MP or his book publishing earnings. 

Question: if he’s truly so dedicated to his demanding, full-time roles as a public servant, how is it he still has plenty of time left to write so much for publication?

And what’s his track record for such an important post in government? His role as Mayor of London? Seriously? Let’s not forget that was a time he was

accused of burying report on the number of deprived schools in London’s most polluted areas.

Not only does he have an unsavoury reputation as a blithering buffoon, with a relish to talk piffle and to insert both feet firmly into his mouth – lest we forget, he has a track record of doing so, not least with his racist-toned insults about President Barack Obama and the Chinese.

But also, this particular buffoon’s reputation is so toxic that today, on the announcement of his appointment, European politicians have already reacted damningly to the news, with him being branded ‘monstrous’ and ‘liar’ for the tall tales he span throughout the Brexit campaign.

Can you imagine the disastrous consequences of Johnson blundering his way around the world, invariably insulting leaders?

Perhaps in making this appointment, Theresa May thought she’d appease the rabid Conservative Party backbench MPs who remain deluded fans of Johnson, and please those “gee-politics-is-fun-because-Boris-makes-me-laugh-what-a-character!” right-wing, reality-TV-watching members of the public who are likewise fans. Perhaps she feels a moral duty to hold him accountable for leading the disaster known as Brexit, so is now challenging him to step up to the plate. Perhaps she wants to test him in a serious job and see whether he has any real mettle, brains and political nous in him. (Answers? Thrice “no”.) But if Johnson blunders just once in his new role, which, given his track record is more likely than not, May will be the one held to account – and rightly so.

Irrespective of her reasons for her decision, is she so oblivious to the risk she’s taking to her own reputation and that of her new government?

In the meantime, I share the outraged, pissed-off, gobsmacked reaction of Angela Eagle MP for Labour, at the news.