Boris Johnson wants to be remembered as someone who ‘helped to unite the country’

Speaking to George Osborne’s Evening Standard, which has endorsed Boris Johnson to be the next prime minister, the Tory leadership contestant said he wanted to remembered for how he brought the country together.

That is despite the Brexiteer leading the campaign that led Britain to vote narrowly by 52% to 48% in support of a departure from the European Union.

He claimed that being a Brexiteer and One Nation Conservative are compatible despite the UK’s departure potentially leading to the break up of the Union.

“I think those two things are completely coherent,” he said, as he spoke about what will appear on his tombstone.

“I hope they will say, ‘There was somebody who helped to unite the country and unite society’. That’s what I want to do.”

Just the day before Johnson’s divisive nature was highlighted by the SNP’s Westminster leader during PMQs.

He branded the MP a “racist” for his past comments.

He said: “The member has called Muslim women ‘letterboxes’, described African people as having ‘watermelon smiles’ and another disgusting slur that I would never dignify by repeating. If that’s not racist Mr Speaker I don’t know what is.”

The Tory MP’s claim to uniting society has been widely mocked on social media.

Citizen of Nowhere wrote on Twitter: “He has done. We all hate him.”

Sand Evans wrote: “Ignite the country more like”.

Judith Lowrie said: “What ‘country’ would that be? England?”

A user going by the alias of Left Peggers said: “And I’d like to be remembered as the person who won the Champions League for Aberdeen FC, with a hat-trick in the last 5 minutes against Real Madrid. But, guess what…?”

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Meanwhile an Irish Border parody account tweeted: “I’m more likely to unite Ireland than Boris Johnson is to unite the UK.”