AS a columnist you’re paid to proffer opinion. You’re expected to have a point of view. 
The best are those who have opinions that chime with their audience. Better still, if they can combine that with providing entertainment, making their readers chortle as well as fume. Boris Johnson was an outstandingly good columnist, a terrific writer who had a smart, often amusing turn of phrase. He was able to turn that to effect also when hosting Have I Got News For Youand making rumbustious speeches as Mayor of London.