Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was running late to his interview with RNZ's Kim Hill, so her first question was: "Are you always late?"
Johnson was terribly apologetic, but the abrupt introduction set the tone for the fiery interview to follow.
The former British prime minister was in New Zealand to promote his new book Unleashed, and to appear as the guest speaker at an event in Auckland. He sat down with Hill, the two of them facing off over a small table in the middle of a huge room at the Cordis Hotel where Johnson was staying.
Hill's second question was whether the book was an attempt to salvage his political career, which ended in disgrace following the publication of a report finding that he had lied to the Commons.
Johnson took the serves in stride and seemed to enjoy the robust discussion.
Photo: RNZ / Nick Munro (photo), Robert Whitaker (design)
When Hill suggested that Johnson and his Tory government appealed to the racists and xenophobes with their Brexit plans, he took great exception and demanded she apologise.
Hill refused.
When she asked about his love life, his ex-wife and his eight children, she was politely told to move on.
"I've always followed the rule which is, no matter how charming and brilliant my interrogator, I never answer questions about my personal life," he said.
Unleashed looks at Johnson's time as prime minister, but he evaded Hill's questions about whether he would get back into politics.
"I want to try to be helpful and Unleashed is an attempt to set out ways in which I think that any government should operate in the UK," he said.
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson with Kim Hill Photo: RNZ
Johnson said it was "sad" that his party lost the huge majority it went into government with and while he felt there were a number of things that contributed to that, one of the key factors was the Covid-19 crisis.
"Because of the lockdowns, I couldn't see my colleagues and I couldn't feel their pulse.
"What really happened was that there were a lot of people in my party who didn't agree with Brexit and didn't like what we did and were gunning for me for from a long time out. I kind of underestimated their animosity."
When Hill asked what might have created the enmity, Johnson responded: "Well, search me guv, I honestly don't know. And I thought it was very sad."
But when Hill suggested the fact that he misled the Commons over breaking lockdown rules might have accounted for his decline in popularity, Johnson said the Commons Privileges Committee report that found he lied was a "load of hogwash".
Other concerns during his time as prime minister - such as his endorsement of Chris Pincher who had sexual misconduct allegations against him and his support of Owen Patterson who breached the lobbying laws - were brushed aside as things he got wrong, but were relatively unimportant.
"All rolled up, they didn't add up to a row of beans," Johnson said.
Although he feels Covid was a contributor to his downfall, Johnson told Hill that it was also the proof that Brexit was a success.
"If we'd remained in the EU there is not a snowball's chance in hell that we would have come out and done the vaccinations at the pace that we did, and I know that this sort of fries the brains of the remainers."
And when pushed on the fact exports were down £3 billion a year since Brexit, the former PM argued that Britain remains one of the biggest exporting powers.
"Our trade with New Zealand had increased by something like 25 percent which is perhaps of more direct interest to your listeners," he said.
The hour-long interview ended as abruptly as it began, but both Johnson and Hill seemed happy and invigorated by the exchange.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.