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
Yet, for all the invective and the smears, this contest has been a terrific one, a decathlon of democracy. Boris and Ken — along with the amiable Lib Dem gooseberry, Brian Paddick — have gone into battle against one another more than a dozen times. Compare and contrast the inability of successive national party leaders to mount a single television debate before a general election. Hardly a day seems to go by now without another on-screen punch-up between Boris and Ken, another have-a-go hustings.
Localism has been in apparently terminal decline since Crosland told the town halls in 1975 that ‘the party’s over’. Rate-capping, the abolition of the GLC, the proliferation of quangos, Brownite centralisation: as Whitehall has grown ever more powerful, so public interest in local elections has (quite rationally) diminished. But the Ken and Boris Show has brought fire and fascination back to British local politics. This has not been a contest between two branch representatives of national parties but a titanic struggle between two big personalities, reminiscent of an American gubernatorial or mayoral race. One can only hope that the contagion spreads to other cities, in other elections. In the past few months, in London at least, it has seemed that, far from being over, the party might just be starting.
Can he win? Both camps say they think it will go to the wire: the opinion polls have been inconclusively tight. The Tories’ great problem in previous mayoral contests has been ‘differential turnout’: that is, Labour voters turning out in droves in, say, Lewisham, while most people stay at home in Kensington and Chelsea. Here, Boris’s celebrity should serve him well. But public recognition of Ken is very high, too. Fame alone will not do the trick — as the Johnson campaign well appreciates.
Should he win? Yes, he really should. He has passed every test set for him by the naysayers, and emerged from the crucible with a very different public image. There has been a change, probably irreversible. ‘The red nose isn’t going back on,’ as he told one gathering.
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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!