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
An obvious health warning: Boris is my friend and distinguished predecessor in the editor’s chair. At The Spectator, we practise a genial variety of Shintoist ancestor worship, venerating the giants upon whose shoulders we stand, from Addison and Steele, to Johnson and Johnson (Frank and Boris). In these pages, and on our Coffee House blog, we have stood shoulder to shoulder with our blond alumnus from Day One. We were with him at the first, and we will stay with him to the last. And if he triumphs on 1 May, we shall — of course — claim that it was the Spec wot won it.
That said, I write this primarily as a Londoner: someone who has lived in the city all his life (south, north, west, east, in that order), is generally reluctant to leave the place at all, and feels a profound allegiance to what Andrew Neil described in last week’s issue as this ‘21st-century British city-state with the world as its hinterland’. Hell, I even wrote a novel that was in essence a love letter to London. It matters to me very much who runs the place and commands the mayor’s £11.3 billion annual budget.
So why Boris? The answer ‘why not, old boy?’ — the Boujis and Bullingdon answer, so to speak — won’t do. You don’t hand London over to somebody just for a wheeze. Incumbency should never be confused with entitlement to office: a confusion that has been Livingstone’s fatal error. But — equally — a desire to make mischief is not a sound reason to endorse a challenger. As Boris himself warned his admirers early on, a Mayor must be much more than a Bloody Good Bloke, a Pearly King of Japes.
Certainly, he has confounded those who said his campaign would be substance-free. To mention a few of his proposals: 4,400 extra police community support officers; the phasing out of bendy buses and competitive tendering for a new Routemaster (very controversial, that one); the withdrawal of free transport rights from those who abuse them; new trusts to offer affordable housing to first-time buyers on old municipal land; more air-conditioning on the Underground; the dumping of Livingstone’s £25 congestion charge; fines on utility companies that dig up the roads; more cycle parking; free travel for injured veterans; an audacious plan to use the Proceeds of Crime Bill to allow the Met to keep money confiscated from drug dealers to fight crime; and so on, and so on. There is a detailed policy plan for Day One, Week One, the First Hundred Days.
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Ray
April 24th, 2008 2:00pmGo, 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"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 4:57pmWho 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 9:52pmIf Boris does become Mayor, I can see an awful lot of crazy nutter organisation suddenly running out of money.
David
April 25th, 2008 11:21amBellman.
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 12:38pmBoris 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 8:26pmOn 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 8:56pmWhat 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 11:24pmIt'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 12:46amTaken 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 9:10pmMarriage 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 5:17pmGreat 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!