Boris Johnson’s ‘onanism’ insult shows exactly why leaking political speeches is an effective election tactic

When a pre-briefed line is dropped from a speech, it usually signifies a last-minute change of mind or a behind-the-scenes row about policy. In this case, it looks far more like a campaigning tactic

A sheepish PM feigned ignorance when confronted on the issue by a journalist on Wednesday (Getty)

Onanism. It’s virtually the only new thing that Boris Johnson has said in this election campaign. And the funny thing is he didn’t actually say it.

The story of how the arcane biblical term – meaning masturbation – came to enter the political discourse of the 2019 election tells us a lot about Johnson’s campaign tactics.

Any candidate on the campaign trail has to make a lot of speeches. And they have a limited set of slogans and talking points they want to drum into the collective public mind. So those speeches tend to get repetitive.