It was inevitable, after the Mair interview and the Cockerell profile, that Boris would dominate the news this morning. Steve Richards and Hugo Rifkind (£) have written about him in their columns, and there are numerous reviews of Cockerell’s programme to read – Paul Goodman at ConHome will make for a thoughtful and entertaining lunchtime break.
I don’t think that Cockerell’s programme told eagle-eyed political observers anything new; but that was not its intention, at least from Boris’ perspective. Eddie Mair wondered if Boris is nasty piece of work; most viewers of Cockerell’s programme would have emerged with the view that Boris is at worst a naughty piece of work. The most telling contribution came from Ken Livingstone; who remarked, not without a note of resentment, that Boris makes people feel better about themselves; adding that this is a rare quality in a politician, which allows Boris to excuse his foibles.
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