Boris's game plan

Friday, 20th June 2008

"Are you sure?" he asked the reporter, looking baffled. The new mayor is either a master of the art of delegation or not on top of his job. Take your pick. As for his Today programme appearance, Times sketchwriter Ann Treneman sifts through the wreckage of a car crash. On the sunnier side of the street, Andrew Gimson has added an upbeat chapter to the new edition of his Boris biography, including a glimpse of the relationship with Dave:

Boris and Cameron are often described as friends, but this is highly misleading. It would be more accurate to say that they are on friendly terms, but have never spent, or wished to spend, much time with each other. As a well-placed observer said: "They have no history of friendship and Boris has never been part of Cameron's set. Boris would find the idea of going on holiday with the members of that set atrocious."
For while Cameron is a favoured son of the establishment, Boris is an outsider... Cameron's instinct is to work within the existing framework of rules. Boris frets under such restraint. Cameron believes in order. Boris believes in being free. Cameron is bound to regard Boris as bit disreputable, while Boris is bound to regard Cameron as a bit limited.
[Via Dave Hill]

[Photo: Shaun CurryAFP/Getty Images]