Boris Johnson told Sir Keir Starmer to “get on your bike” as he joined father Stanley and brothers Max, Leo and Jo at the launch of a new book about one of Britain’s great motorcycling adventures.
The former PM turned the day’s BSA motorcycle theme on Sir Keir as the Johnsons recreated the spirit of Stanley’s 1961 attempt to ride from Oxford to Beijing.
Boris joked that Sir Keir might soon need a machine of his own, adding: “If Keir’s looking for a way out, he could do worse than one of these.”
| Picture shows Boris Johnson (right) and Stanley Johnson (middle) posing with motorcycle. He is recreating a photograph of his father Stanley Johnson, who launched his book In the Footsteps of Marco Polo. Note: Licensed photo. (Belters/NX) |
He made the remark as Stanley launched In the Footsteps of Marco Polo, his account of a journey towards China that began more than 60 years ago on two 500cc BSA Shooting Star motorcycles and was finally completed with Max in 2023.
Boris and his brothers joined Stanley at The Old Palace pub, where the family squeezed onto the seat of a 1960s BSA motorcycle wearing old-school helmets and goggles.
The family were recreating a 1961 photograph of Stanley, Tim Severin and Michael de Larrabeiti at the Gateway of India in Mumbai during their first attempt to follow Marco Polo’s route from Venice to Beijing.
Boris, Stanley and Max also climbed into the saddle and took the bikes for a spin in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire.
Stanley and his friends set off from Oxford in 1961 and travelled through Europe and Asia, including Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan, before reaching the Afghanistan-China border.
They made it as far as the Wakhan Corridor, but were unable to cross the High Pamirs on two wheels and were forced to turn away.
| Picture shows Boris Johnson posing with motorcycle. His father Stanley Johnson launched his book In the Footsteps of Marco Polo. Note: Licensed photo. (Belters/NX) |
More than 60 years later, Stanley completed the journey with Max, crossing China from the Himalayas to Beijing for In the Footsteps of Marco Polo and a four-part documentary series of the same name.
Boris said Britain’s great manufacturing names deserved to be remembered and celebrated, with BSA standing as a reminder of the “quality, ingenuity and ambition that helped carry British engineering around the world”.
Referring to his father as “Dada” – the family name by which Stanley is known to his children and a nod to the anarchic early 20th-century anti-art movement – he said: “Dada has always had a taste for adventure, and it is wonderful to see him celebrating a journey that began on a British motorbike more than 60 years ago.
“I’m delighted to be here with him, Max and these magnificent old machines to mark a book that is every bit as spirited as the journey behind it – and to celebrate a great name in British motorcycling heritage.
“BSA stands for the quality, ingenuity and ambition that helped carry Stanley, and British engineering, around the world.”
Boris joked that Sir Keir, whose personal ratings have plummeted over his appointment of Lord Mandelson to the job of ambassador to the US, might soon need a machine of his own.
| Picture shows the book In the Footsteps of Marco Polo. Stanley Johnson, the father of Boris Johnson, wrote of his first attempt to follow Marco Polo’s route from Venice to Beijing in the book. Note: Licensed photo. (Belters/NX) |
He added: “If Keir’s looking for a way out, he could do worse than one of these.”
Stanley said: “It is a huge pleasure to launch the book here in Kings Langley with Boris and Max, and to pay tribute to BSA, which played such an important part in the original journey.
“Max and I had the great good fortune to finish the route together in 2023, and having Boris here today gives the launch a splendid family send-off.”
Max added: “Dada and I covered the last 5,000 kilometres together, so getting the three of us on a BSA for the launch felt like a very fitting Johnson family finale.”
Luke Gregory of BSA, who is also co-owner of The Old Palace, said: “BSA is at the heart of this story, so it is a real honour to welcome Stanley, Boris and Max here to celebrate a journey that began on two 500cc Shooting Stars more than 60 years ago.
“Those bikes carried Stanley and his friends across continents, and the book is a wonderful reminder of the part BSA played in one of the great British motorcycling adventures.”
