Mick Lynch invented a new word to sum up the prime minister on BBC Question Time on Thursday night.
As he was explaining his frustration towards Downing Street – and speaking just hours before the results from two separate by-elections were announced – Lynch described Boris Johnson as “unembarrassable”.
The RMT general-secretary has gained a surprise legion of fans in the past week due to his no-nonsense media appearances amid backlash over the rail strikes, and he may have acquired just a few more after last night.
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“I hope he loses both of these elections, and I hope he’s undermined, you wouldn’t expect anything else from me,” Lynch said.
“His main problem is he is ‘unembarrassable’.
“No matter what he does, he’s not embarrassed by his failures, by the image he gives off, and by his behaviour.
“And he’s supported in that by his mates in the establishment.
″We’ve got a very strange society where he’s propped up by the press, propped up by the media, propped by the city.”
Alluding to the fixed penalty notice which Johnson received over attending a party during lockdown, the union boss claimed: “No matter what he does, no matter how badly he behaves – up to and including breaking the law – they won’t go against him.”
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Lynch also explained his surprise that Conservative MPs opted to keep Johnson in his role (albeit by a small margin) in last month’s confidence vote.
“Nevertheless, they lie in their own nest and support him,” the RMT boss continued. “So I don’t know what will make him go, but I think ultimately the Tories will get rid of him before the ballot box gets rid of him, because that’s in their interest.”
The prime minister has been heavily criticised in recent months, over everything from partygate and his decision to change the ministerial code to the Rwanda asylum policy.
Following the double whammy of the by-election defeats early this morning, Johnson told the press: “Historically in the last 50 years, more, you’ve seen governments being punished at the polls during mid-term, when people are particularly feeling economic pressures.”
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He also blamed Covid and the cost of living crisis, but did not acknowledge how the blows to his reputation may have had an impact.
A particularly loyal member of his cabinet, Tory party chair Oliver Dowden, even resigned over the by-election defeats this morning, claiming that someone “must take responsibility” for the humiliating losses.
In his reply, Johnson thanked Dowden for his time in the cabinet, expressed his sorrow he was leaving but maintained that the current government was elected on a “historic mandate” back in 2019.
