Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Attila the Stockbroker Diary
Here’s a limerick in response to puke-inducing cavalcade of callous, self-serving, navel-gazing egotism of Tory unworthies feasting on Johnson’s political carcass

THERE are many ways to describe the process of selecting a new Tory leader.

For me it is akin to choosing which Crystal Palace player I’d like to score the winning goal against Brighton in the 90th minute of a Champions League final. Others have likened it to picking one’s favourite bit of diced carrot from a pool of vomit or deciding which portable loo to use on the third day of a festival.

I was actually in the bath when it became obvious that Johnson was on his way out, and I wrote a limerick to celebrate. The next morning, as the vultures continued to gather, I wrote another one, and from that point decided to chronicle the whole inglorious process in a series of limericks. (I think the limerick is the poetic form best suited to such a puke-inducing cavalcade of callous, self-serving, navel-gazing egotism.)

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Cartoon: McGookin
Clacton / 17 July 2026
17 July 2026

The bard invites readers to a gig, raps for Clacton, and lays out the Burnham-Hurzeler conundrum

attila
Attila the Stockbroker / 3 July 2026
3 July 2026

In verse and polemic, the bard points out that he is a poet and musician, not a political party

covers
Culture / 2 January 2026
2 January 2026

Two inspring books — that’s your New Year’s musing from me on January 2 2026

attila
Attila the Stockbroker Diary / 22 August 2025
22 August 2025

The Bard commutes to work for the first time in 45 years