Time for me to be more assertive

In the light of recent articles in The Spectator, I think it is vital I should point out here and now that I thought Boris Johnson was crap long before Toby Young and our editor, Fraser Nelson, did. I remember suggesting more than a year ago that the entire Johnson clan was a bit thick and borne aloft simply by depthless ambition and droit de seigneur. I felt a bit bad about it because Boris was a former boss of mine here and also a kind of mate. But you have to be ruthless in this job, get in quick with your bludgeon, even if it’s your own granny on the end of it.

I thought I had been very quick off the mark but received no recognition for my insight, and then, ages later, suddenly Tobes and Fraser are being quoted in broadsheet editorials and there is nothing saying ‘Also, Rod Liddle said he was quite shite last year.’ Journalism is an incredibly competitive environment and oversights like this hurt both emotionally and professionally. It is not so long ago that another colleague and friend, Douglas Murray, won some kind of award for being the most Islamophobic person in the country. Everybody knows I’m a more deserving winner, excellent though Douglas is. But overlooked again. I’ve also missed out on Stonewall’s prestigious Bigot of the Year Award, despite having put in the effort, put in the slog, hammering the deviants all over the place.

I think the problem is that, unlike some of my colleagues, I am not terribly good at self-promotion. Nor am I particularly wily. My mother used to say to me, when I missed out on prizes at school which I clearly deserved: ‘Rod, you’ve got to push yourself forward.