Boris Johnson to join GB News as presenter and commentator

Boris Johnson is joining broadcaster GB News as a presenter and commentator.

The former prime minster said he was was “very much looking forward” to joining the channel, which counts a number of Tory MPs – including former Cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg – as presenters.

In a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr Johnson said he was “excited to say I will be joining shortly – and offering my frank opinions on world affairs”.

“I will be talking about the immense opportunities for Global Britain – as well as the challenges – and why our best days are yet to come.”

The appointment is likely to raise further questions after GB News was found to have breached impartiality rules by regulator Ofcom last month over an interview between Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and fellow Tory MPs Esther McVey and Philip Davies.

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An episode of Saturday Morning With Esther And Phil featured a pre-recorded interview that focused on the government’s approach to economic and fiscal policies ahead of the budget, which was announced four days later.

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The watchdog received 45 complaints from viewers and said its investigation found the programme was “overwhelmingly reflective of the viewpoints of different strands of opinion within the Conservative Party”.

In total the regulator has seven active investigations into the broadcaster.

Following the GB News offer, Mr Johnson, who will take up his role in the new year, sought the advice of the appointments watchdog, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA).

It said it “did not consider joining GB News as a presenter to raise any particular concerns under the government’s rules”.

However, it did remind the former prime minister of his “responsibility to manage the propriety of the specific pieces of work undertaken with GB News”.

“In particular, as a former prime minister, you must be careful not to offer any unfair insight as a result of your access to information and potential influence in government,” it said.

The committee recommended that he follow a number of conditions, including that he does not disclose any “privileged information available to you from your time in ministerial office” and that he should not become “personally involved in lobbying the UK government or its arm’s length bodies on behalf of GB News” for two years since his last day in office.

In the video announcing the appointment, Mr Johnson also promised he would give his “unvarnished views on everything from Russia, China, the war in Ukraine, and how we meet all of those challenges, to the huge opportunities that lie ahead for us”.

Since he left office last year, Mr Johnson has also landed a weekly column in the Daily Mail, which reportedly earns him an annual six-figure sum.

In that instance, ACOBA found the former prime minister guilty of a “clear breach” of the rules surrounding jobs outside parliament after he only informed the watchdog of his new column half an hour before it was publicly announced.

Mr Johnson’s appointment comes after the recent controversy at GB News which saw the broadcaster sack high-profile contributor Laurence Fox over comments he made about the journalist Ava Evans.

Calvin Robinson was also sacked during the fallout, while Dan Wootton remains suspended.

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