On 10 January, Boris Johnson unveiled a portrait of himself at the Carlton Club. Alistair Lexden criticised the Club in a letter published in The Daily Telegraph on 13 January.
SIR - It is a great mistake to install a portrait of Boris Johnson in the Carlton Club (report, 12 January).
He is the first Tory prime minister ever to have been driven from office by scandal and personal misconduct. He is the first to be investigated by a Commons select committee to establish whether he misled the House, an issue of great gravity. At the very least, the Carlton should have waited until the publication of the select committee’s report.
Portraits of all Tory prime ministers since the Duke of Wellington, the club’s founding father, adorn its walls. In view of the discredit that he brought on the highest political office, Mr Johnson should have been not have been included among them at this time.
Lord Lexden
Co-author, The Carlton Club 1832-2007 (2007)
London SW1
