At Guardian Politics: Mayor Johnson, The Good & The Bad

Written while half asleep:

It hasn’t been dull, has it? The first hundred days in power of the – sorry Dave - most famous and popular Conservative in Britain have been as engrossing and as chaotic as was widely predicted. They’ve been intruiging too. Characterising the new London mayor politically has proved quite difficult so far. At times he’s sounded like the impeccable social liberal he claims to be, at some others like a proper Melanie.

Along with criticism from greens, the liberal democrats and the left he’s attracted derision from the libertarian right – most notably over the booze ban – and from its authoritarian wing, with the Daily Mail heralding the resignation of Ray Lewis with the front page headline: “Boris: The Wheels Are Coming Off Already!”

But they haven’t come off yet, despite sometimes looking as though they might. And at times he’s given a fairly friendly critic like me – yes, trolls, at least three Tory AMs and one close Johnson lieutenant see me that way – reason for hoping he’ll achieve at least some good things during his mayoralty. Mind you, there have been other occasions when I’ve wanted to give him a good talking to. To illustrate these points, here are my best five reasons for being cheerful about Mayor Johnson moments and my five for being cross.

FIVE REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL

One: His gracious late night victory address at City Hall, in which he acknowledged that many who’d voted for him might have hesitated first and insisted he was mindful of London’s cosmopolitan character and its deep inequalities. Yes, they were only words but he didn’t have to say them and now he’ll be expected to live up to themn.

Two: His speech at the pre-Gay Pride reception at City Hall where he described the “carnival vision” of London captured in a 1980s street mural in Dalston as being “pretty much what we see around us today,” and praised this as “a great achievement,” despite having mocked such ideals at the time. The hat he wore on the march itself wasn’t bad either.

Three: His high profile commitment to tackling youth crime and disaffection. There’s been no backing away from this since he’s been in power, despite the damage done by the Lewis affair. If nothing else Johnson has moved the need to deal constructively with the issue up the political agenda.

Four: His support for the London Living Wage. Despite an under-reported row-back in relation to companies recommended on the important Visit London website he has increased the LLW for GLA employees to 7.45 per hour and publicly supported Barclays for pitching their minimum even higher.

Five: His attitude to the Trafalgar Square 4th Plinth project. Campaigners for a statue of World War 2 hero Sir Keith Park have been disappointed and, as it happens, I’d prefer the 4th Plinth stuff somewhere else. That said, Johnson’s shown himself to be something other than a hardline fogey on matters of culture.

FIVE REASONS TO BE CROSS

One: His insistence at the ill-fated Ray Lewis press conference that his doomed Deputy for Young People represented the opposite of a “stifling orthodoxy” over the socialising of children. Mayor Johnson sometimes seems too ready to believe all that hard-right propaganda about a “liberal elite” destroying the nation’s social fabric. That is the real “stifling orthodoxy” of our time.

Two: Hiring Anthony Browne as Policy Director. Beware the zeal of the convert.

Three: Forming the Forensic Audit Panel to assess GLA Group spending. Four of its five members were hand-picked Tories, so they were hardly likely to reach anything other than a damning conclusion (which even Johnson has responded to with caution). Johnson has a mandate to pursue his version of value-for-money, so why not just get on with it rather than indulging in this bit of post-election showbiz?

Four: Lack of accountability. Ken Livingstone held weekly press conferences, which lasted until the questions ran out even though almost all the media hated him. Aside from the Lewis emergency, Johnson has held only two so far, the first restricted to half an hour, the second dominated by the co-appearance of Sir Ian Blair, which reduced the time for questions on non-crime issues. He only “aims” to hold monthly ones after the summer break. Given the media’s endless search for Boris “gaffes” his circumspection is understandable, but he should do much better.

Five: Foot-dragging over transparency. Would the promised declarations of interest by such as Tim Parker have happened yet but for persistent nagging by Lib Dem assembly member Mike Tuffrey? Would the promise to form a “cabinet for London” with a published agenda and minuted meetings have been quietly dropped but for similar pressure? Needs to be scrutinised closely on this score.

Keep up the good work Boris and dump the rest if that’s OK. See you in September.

Original edition here.

Comments

[angela]

Re. your point about more accountability and more press conferences, maybe he is waiting until he is more into the job. The job of London Mayor is very complicated and you have to master huge areas of detail. Boris is renowned for being an incredibly quick learner, but it must take at least six months before anyone could get right on top of every subject and master the detail thoroughly. He knows he has to face a lot of hostile questioning from people who will leap on his slightest error and anything he says will be thrown back in his face for ever after, so standing back and mugging up to the nth degree sounds like common sense to me.

Very fair summary of his 100 days, so any criticisms you do make are always worthy of our deepest consideration.

[angela]

Boris's biggest success so far is the way he has stuck to and highlighted the issue of knife crime. Everyone in London is now aware of the seriousness of this problem and the underlying causes, and being aware of a problem is a big step forward. This is not going to be solved overnight, but I bet he will continue to make it top of his agenda, and push like hell.

[Guano]

Angela

1) Knife crime is a Conservative Party talking-point

2) Boris has kept to the script and has kept "highlighting" the issue of knife-crime.

But

3) The Mayor of London has little influence over the issue of knife-crime while, on the other hand, he has considerable powers over issues like transport.

So

4) It is not immediately obvious why it is a success that Boris has continued to repeat a Conservative Party talking-point. Let's wait and see what he makes of issues like transport, where he does have powers but will face some tough choices.

[angela]

Guano, knife crime affects every family in London, and is a very emotional issue. If you did a survey on which problem Londoners would wish to be solved first, knife crime or transport, I would be willing to bet that more people voted for knife crime. Ordinary people don't look at things in political terms, they just want safety for their kids and families.