Joking apart: why Boris is the man for the job
Boris Johnson has confounded his critics, says Matthew d’Ancona. The contest will go to the wire, but our man has proved himself to be both shrewd enough and serious enough to take charge
In the end, to behold the Mayor and his challenger is to behold the old and the new, a generational choice. Ken is the defender of the Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who supports wife-beating and the execution of homosexuals. He is the friend of Hugo Chávez. He is the man whose power has rested for a quarter-century upon the so-called ‘rainbow coalition’ of minorities, a politics of identity that has now hardened into cantonisation and subsidised mini-fiefdoms. The fall of Lee Jasper, Livingstone’s disgraced equality adviser, is a parable of that decline: what started in the Eighties as an attempt to redistribute power to powerless minorities has ended up as just another municipal gravy train, a multicultural variant of Tammany Hall politics that has nothing to do with modern London in all its magnificent complexity and dynamism. Enough already.
In this campaign, Boris has self-evidently struck a chord, energised the punters. He is charming, for sure, but this is not just charm at work. Where Ken stands for fragmented grievance, Boris stands for shared aspiration. The Mayor embodies the last, cunning gasp of 20th-century municipal socialism; his challenger offers a 21st-century brew of liberal Toryism, environmentalism and robust common sense on crime.
Today, the capital city needs change. In this long, gruelling, vivid campaign, with all its twists and turns, the Tory contender has shown that he has what it takes to give London a fresh start. Which is why, on Thursday, the greatest city on Earth should choose Boris. So come on, Londoners, what’s it going to be? Have we got votes for him?
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Ray
April 24th, 2008 2:00pm Report this commentGo, Boris, Go! And my advice to you once in office is to copy the winning formula of Ronald Reagan - that other famous larger-than-life politician with a gift for bonhomie - and surround yourself with a team of highly competent lieutenants. You set the policy themes and be the public face of London; let them get on with the nitty-gritty of actually getting the job done.
The Bellman
April 24th, 2008 2:15pm Report this comment"Boris for PM" say I.
My bet is that he will be PM at some stage. How wonderful it would be to be lead by somebody sans spin.
I'll say it again, "Boris for PM" and again "Boris for PM".
And what I tell you three times is true.
Augustus
April 24th, 2008 4:57pm Report this commentWho wants Red Ken back in power? Using London's money to fund communists and anarchists was a bleeding disgrace. you can conduct all the surveys you like, but people who want a change will vote for it.
Madasafish
April 24th, 2008 9:52pm Report this commentIf Boris does become Mayor, I can see an awful lot of crazy nutter organisation suddenly running out of money.
David
April 25th, 2008 11:21am Report this commentBellman.
Did you really say "lead" instead of "led"?
The Spectator is the last place I'd have expected to find such a howler.
paddy dooley
April 25th, 2008 12:38pm Report this commentBoris will serve you and I, Red Ken has, and always will serve himself and his self esteem, which will never be satisfied as Ken has so many issues you could fill all the empty seats at
port vale fc next season with them....good luck blondie
Adrian
April 25th, 2008 8:26pm Report this commentOn Tory conference call tonight - at the start "the Q & A will follow at the end", then no Q&A - because Boris cannot even handle questions from Tories.
jon livesey
April 25th, 2008 8:56pm Report this commentWhat is true of London is also true of the UK. In a modern world, the UK deserves to see democracy work to produce governments appropriate for the UK that exists in the real world, not the imaginary UK that inhabits the pages of the Guardian, or the fantasies of teaching unions.
Political commentators in the UK these days thrash about offering this and that dodge and wheeze to improve things, but they miss the main point, which is that the debates, feuds and sensibilities of the seventies don't quite cut it in the new millennium, not because they are wrong, but because they are irrelevant.
Countries whose political classes conspire to criminalise discussion of the problems that really anger the voters are countries that cannot confront their most pressing issues, and so risk being overwhelmed by them.
Water
April 25th, 2008 11:24pm Report this commentIt's more a case of compromise and competency... all three of them are just so bad. I’ve heard that all real Englishmen seem to be leaving the country. Well please come back because these three are unutterably ghastly.
Dwight Vandryver
April 26th, 2008 12:46am Report this commentTaken from Not the Nine O'Clock News: Boris Johnson, on being asked by a reporter "Have you had sex with a man?", he replied "Not yet". Not only was this a very witty impromptu response, but also very astute since it offended nobody. One wonders how Ken Livingstone would have reacted to the question. Boris's ability to strike a favourable chord with the average guy has to be an asset in any mayoral candidate.
[Apologies in advance for any typos or grammatical errors.]
John Worrall
April 27th, 2008 9:10pm Report this commentMarriage vows are the most solemn promises you ever make. A man who breaks these cannot be trusted to keep other promises.
Stefan
April 28th, 2008 5:17pm Report this commentGreat article - and a great chance for Londoners to stand up to the tyranny of the politically correct left-wingers (aka Mr Livingstone's rainbow coalition). I know the British love a fair fight as well as the (seemingly) under-dog winning - so come on and have a go!
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