Watch out York – Boris Johnson is coming to town.
The former London mayor, who has been drawing crowds and courting controversy across the country since the start of the EU Referendum campaign, will speak at a rally in the city on Monday (May 23).
Johnson is the star performer of the Vote Leave campaign. Beloved of Brexiteers, he is Britain’s most recognisable politician.
This month he has been touring Britain in a Brexit battle bus, delivering tub-thumbing speeches at every stop.
The famous Etonian has put his friendship with pro-EU Prime Minister David Cameron at risk with his vociferous criticism of Europe’s ruling elite.
‘Spread positive vision’
His appearance at York Racecourse on Monday evening was announced on the Vote Leave website.
Brexit activists are being encouraged to go along to the event to support the Conservative MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
The statement says:
This will be an excellent opportunity to hear from a senior figure involved in Vote Leave, who will be reinforcing the need for us to take back control on June 23rd and to spend our money on our priorities.
Supporters have already booked tickets. One told YorkMix: “I attended a similar event a few weeks back in Leeds. It was good fun.”
Colourful, controversial
Johnson’s combative approach has drawn criticism from people inside and out of the Tory Party.
Discussing Barack Obama in his newspaper column, he wrote of “the part-Kenyan President’s ancestral dislike of the British empire”, drawing claims of racism.
And his comparison of the EU to Hitler led Tory grandee Lord Heseltine to condemn his “preposterous, obscene political remarks”.
More colourfully on a visit to a clothing factory, he compared the European Union to an ill-fitting undergarment that is “too constricting in some places but dangerously loose in others”.
Whatever Boris says during his York appearance, it is unlikely to be dull.