Boris - 3 months later
An A-Z of Boris's first 100 daysWhere is Jeeves when you need him?
Johnson shows true colours on affordable homes
Make Asbo yobs work in allotments
Timeline of Boris' mayoralty
See also
Johnson
discovers royal lineage
BBC 6 Aug 2008
BBC 6 Aug 2008
London Mayor Boris Johnson can claim some - distant - links to the British Royal Family.
The Tory former MP is distantly related to King George II through his paternal grandmother, BBC One's Who Do You Think You Are? reveals.
She was a descendant of Prince Paul Von Wurttemberg, also linked to the Swedish and Dutch royals and the Romanoffs.
Mr Johnson, who made much of his Turkish origins in the mayoral race, said the news was "totally bizarre".
The genealogy programme, which also looks into the ancestry of Patsy Kensit, Jerry Springer and Esther Rantzen, examined Mr Johnson's lineage through his father's mother, Yvonne Eileen Williams - known to the family as "Granny Butter".
European royals
During his travels on the show, Mr Johnson learns that Mrs Williams' great grandmother, Karoline von Rothenburg, was the illegitimate daughter of actress Friederike Margaret Port and Prince Paul von Rothenburg. Prince Paul, in turn was the great, great grandson of George II, who ruled from 1727 until 1760.
The link connects Mr Johnson not only to the British royal family, but to all the royal houses of Europe, according to the programme.
Before the programme Mr Johnson knew that his paternal grandfather "Johnny" was the son of Ali Kemal - a Turkish journalist and politician, who was briefly interior minister in the government of Ahmed Tevfik Pasha, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. He was later kidnapped and lynched in the early 1920s but his son Osman Ali settled in the UK and changed his name to Wilfred Johnson.
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson said one of the mysteries of his childhood had been "just how posh was Granny Butter?" She was half-French and always claimed to be of "posh stock".
The Old Etonian, whose critics have attacked him as a "toff", said the news that he was related to the British royals was "surreal". He told the programme: "If you had told me that I was related to George II, I would have thought you were absolutely crackers. Not even Granny Butter could have come up with that one. "I would have been terribly proud just to have been related to the German king but I can't hide it from you that even in our common European home, I am particularly thrilled to have some British Royal ancestry as well."
However, Mr Johnson pointed out there were probably "several thousand other people out there in the same position".
The Boris Johnson episode of Who Do You Think You Are? will be screened on BBC One on 20 August.
An A-Z of Boris's first 100 days
Andy McSmith gives an ABC guide to the new boy's performance so far. 7 August 2008
Andy McSmith gives an ABC guide to the new boy's performance so far. 7 August 2008
When Londoners elected Boris Johnson Mayor of London, it was one of the political turnarounds of the decade. How would Boris, seen by some as an error-prone entertainer, compare with Ken Livingstone, once the political operator who seemingly could do little wrong?
A is for Alcohol
Mr Johnson's first act as Mayor was to ban drinking on London's public transport, effective from1 June. This inspired a protest by City types, who turned the last evening of legal drinking into a bacchanalian riot."I firmly believe that if we drive out so-called minor crime then we will be able to get a firm grip on more serious crime," Johnson said.
B is for Buses
During the election campaign, Johnson promised to abolish the long, articulated "bendy buses" that are said to clog up traffic in London. He also promised to reinstate the popular Routemaster, abolished because it had no access for disabled passengers. He has offered a £25,000 prize for whoever designs the best new Routemaster. But it could be years before the bendy buses are off the streets.
C is for Cycling
Johnson is an avid cyclist, so it was no great surprise when he announced that he spending £55m in the coming year on developing cycle lanes, compared with £36m spent by Ken Livingstone. But when a member of the London Assembly backed his position on whether cyclists should be compelled to wear helmets, Johnson exclaimed: "How can you possibly agree? My position is hopelessly muddled."
D is for Development Agency
The last months of the tenure of the previous Mayor, Ken Livingstone, were marred by a series of revelations about grants from the London Development Agency going to unsuitable organisations, with suspicions that a network of cronies was doing nicely at public expense. Johnson brought in a team led by the journalist,Patience Wheatcroft, above, to investigate. They have recommended that development grants be dispersed locally by London boroughs. Livingstone claims that the Wheatcroft team was Tory-dominated, and that Conservative boroughs will divert their development grants into getting their council tax levels down – a good electoral tactic which will damage the capital's long-term future, he claims.
E is for Environment
"There is no evidence that the planet is suffering from the extreme weather patterns associated with climate change," Johnson wrote eight years ago. He changed his mind some time around 2006, and now seems keen to do his bit to reduce London's carbon emissions. Last month, he announced 10 "low carbon zones".
F is for Food
Johnson has appointed Rosie Boycott, former editor of The Independent on Sunday and The Independent and owner of a small organic farm, to head London Food, to help improve access to healthy, locally produced cheap food. "Rosie is bursting with great ideas on how we can boost the level of top-notch food," he enthused. She starts in September.
G is for Gaffes
The worst clanger of the first 100 days was dropped not by Johnson but by James McGrath, his 34-year-old chief political adviser, who was provoked by a hostile question into remarking of Londoners of Afro-Caribbean descent: "Let them go if they don't like it here." Johnson's first reaction was to stand by his adviser. On reflection, he sacked him.
H is for Housing
Livingstone believed in high-rise, high-density housing to solve London's shortage. Johnson does not share his enthusiasm for decorating the skyline in this way, but he has promised to make sure no more than one London home in a hundred is empty at any time. To that end, he allocated £60m for an empty homes "rescue" package last month.
I is for Ian Blair
It is no secret that the Mayor and the head of the Metropolitan Police do not get on. Sir Ian Blair has the reputation of being a "New Labour" cop. Johnson was one of many who called for his resignation in the wake of the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, whom police mistook for a suicide bomber. Last month, leaked emails showed Johnson's office has been plotting to have Sir Ian suspended, pending investigation into his links with a London businessman. Johnson says the Mayor has to answer to London electors, so the Commissioner should answer to the Mayor. Sir Ian says that his job involves more than policing the capital and that he should answer to the Home Secretary.
J is for Johnson's ancestors
During the election, Boris Johnson made the startling announcement that he is the descendant of a Circassian slave – not a bad thing to have on your cv when running for Mayor of a cosmopolitan city. The BBC programme Who Do You Think You Are? will reveal later this month that his other ancestors include Germany's Prince Paul von Wurttemberg, and King George II, above. He did not put that in his manifesto.
K is for Knife crime
On 15 May, urged on by the Mayor, the Metropolitan police launched Operation Blunt 2, using stop and search powers and scanners to get knives off the streets, after a horrific series of stabbings, almost all by teenagers on other teenagers. There were 32,395 searches, 1,437 arrests, and 731 knives were confiscated. In one raid, 14 weapons were found on a double decker bus. Unfortunately, it hasn't yet stopped the stabbings.
L is for Latin
Facing his first Mayor's Question Time, Boris Johnson answered one question thus: "Non tali auxilio nec defensoribus." Bit of a smart arse?
M is for Motorists
As you drive your 4x4 through central London, be thankful to Boris Johnson that the congestion charge you pay is only £8. Ken Livingstone was going to put it up to £25 for gas guzzlers. Johnson is also starting a consultation in September on whether to take Kensington and other parts of west London out of the congestion charge zone.
N is for New runway
BAA wants to build a third runway in Heathrow. Johnson wants to prevent it. He thinks Heathrow was one big planning error, and the whole establishment should be shifted to the Thames Estuary.
O is for Olympics
Johnson has declared that London council taxpayers would not pay a penny more towards funding the 2012 Games, and would seem to want us to thank him for that. On the Today programme, in June, it was suggested to him that this was already laid down in an agreement struck between Ken Livingstone and the Government. "I rather doubt it exists" said Johnson. He was wrong.
P is for Post offices
Johnson has sent the Government a very stiff letter, demanding that the closures of London post offices cease forthwith.
Q is for Queen
"It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies," Boris Johnson wrote in his Daily Telegraph column in January 2002. He recently apologised for using the word "piccaninnies", but not for insulting the intelligence of the monarch.
R is for Ray Lewis
Deputy Mayor Ray Lewis was to have been one of the jewels of the Johnson administration – a black youth worker who practised tough love and strict discipline on wayward teenagers. Then came allegations of financial irregularities and other inappropriate behaviour during his time as a Church of England priest. Lewis called them "rubbish", implying that they could not be true because he had since been appointed a justice of the peace. Johnson declared his "full confidence" in Lewis. It then transpired that Lewis was not a JP. Exit one Deputy Mayor.
S is for Shakespeare
You might think that nothing the Bard wrote could be relevant to contemporary urban life, but giving evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Select committee, Johnson remarked: "We need to deglamorise knife crime and make clear to people that this is moronic and wasteful. This is not the death of Mercutio taking place on the streets of London." Asked to explain, he suggested the MPs read Romeo and Juliet.
T is for Trees
Less than a fortnight after taking office, Johnson binned The Londoner, a promotional newspaper distributed free, door to door, on behalf of the London Assembly, which had provided Ken Livingstone with uncritical coverage. The decision saved nearly £3m a year, to be spent on planting 10,000 trees in residential streets.
U is for US elections
Party leaders in the UK generally do not take sides in US elections, although the Conservatives have traditional links with the Republicans, and Labour with the Democrats. In January, David Cameron heaped praise on John McCain. This month Boris Johnson said victory for Barack Obama would be a "fantastic boost" for black people.
V is for Venezuela
One of Johnson's first acts was to cancel a deal that Livingstone struck with President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, under which London was to be supplied with cheap diesel in exchange for help sorting out Caracas's transport system. The savings made on diesel were intended to pay for a scheme under which Londoners on income support would be able to travel half-price. This month, their fares will double, and London will have to pay back £7m to Venezuela. Livingstone has attacked Johnson's decision as "ideologically motivated." Johnson says he does not believe in doing deals with dictators.
W is for War veterans
Wounded veterans are to get free travel on London's transport system, even if they are not Londoners, Johnson decided. So, if you broke your back in Iraq, ask the Mayor's office for a free pass.
X is for Xenophobia
During the mayoral election campaign, Livingstone accused Johnson of "pandering to xenophobia" in the way he reported EU affairs as a journalist. As soon as he was elected, Johnson announced that he might close all the offices that London maintains overseas. Johnson suspects they are a waste of money; Livingstone claims they more than pay for themselves through the foreign investment they help attract.
Z is for Zimbabwe
Johnson has not said anything yet about the crisis in Harare. It cannot last.
top
Where is Jeeves
when you need him, or Does Boris Johnson need a minder?
pajamasmedia.com August 1st, 2008
pajamasmedia.com August 1st, 2008
Like most conservatives, I applauded when Boris Johnson, former editor of The Spectator, beat mad, bad “Red Ken” Livingston in the race to become Mayor of London. Livingston was a thuggish, left-leaning politician of the old school–a sort of neutered British Brezhnev whose orbit was a single city instead of a crumbling empire–whereas Boris brought a pixieish Toryism to bear upon his ever-so-slightly farcical public performance.
Boris is an amusing man. Also a slyly intelligent one. His talent for public for bemusement is, I feel sure, a finely calculated construction. So is his reputation as a disheveled, blond-haired Bertie Wooster, an expensively educated but essentially clueless fop who somehow stumbled into public life. So when Boris Johnson, Tory politician, publicly endorses Barack Obama, I am not only disappointed, I wonder what behind-the-scenes calculation he made. This morning, the London Telegraph reports his public reasoning: “If Barack Obama can do it, it will be the most fantastic boost, I think, for black people everywhere around the world.”
That, of course, is precisely what Barack Obama keeps suggesting, hinting, adumbrating, even as he (officially) presents himself as the candidate who will finally move us “beyond” race.
In fact, Obama has subtly but unmistakably insinuated race into the center of his campaign, and his fans have eagerly conspired to reinforce the racialist overtones of his campaign. The basic line was articulated with admirable clarity by The New York Times a day or two ago when a reporter said that Obama’s candidacy confronted the American electorate with “what may be the ultimate test of racial equality–whether Americans will elect a black president.” But as I pointed out in a comment on that article, the reporter’s “ultimate test” is really a racist examination, for it assumes that if Obama loses it will because of his skin color, not because of his policies.
Boris Johnson’s announced rationale for supporting Obama is cut from the same bolt of cloth. What would be “the most fantastic boost . . . for black people everywhere” is the same thing that would be fantastic for white and yellow and red people everywhere: a President who promulgates policies that conduce to economic growth, the rule of law, and social maturity. The color of his skin is irrelevant, and to pretend otherwise is to perpetuate a paternalist, quota-based racialist thinking.
I referred to Boris’s “announced rationale” for supporting Obama. Is it also his real rationale? I doubt it. The Telegraph says that the endorsement of a Democratic candidate “would usually be considered unusual for a Conservative.” But that is not wholly true. I’ve noticed two sorts of Tories who are eager for the victory of Obama. One is the bitter, old-school anti-American Tory who resents American power and influence and who look forwards to whatever will circumscribe it. An Obama presidency can be counted on to do precisely that, and so it is not surprising that that such chaps have clustered round him.
The second sort is the “worse-therefore-better” brand of Tory who is a true conservative and therefore regards the prospect of a McCain presidency with dismay. McCain, the imperfect conservative, has disappointed conservatives on campaign finance reform, on immigration, on environmental policy, even, at least intermittently, on taxes and judicial policy. Therefore, reason these clever chaps, he would be a poor steward of the Republic. Of course, Obama would be much, much worse, but (so they reason), let him have a spin at the helm for four years: he’ll bollocks up things so badly that a grateful electorate will welcome us true conservatives back with open arms.
I suspect that Boris Johnson inclines more to the former than the latter, though item four in Victor Davis Hanson’s answers to the question “Why Do Europeans Love Obama?” probably also plays a part:
4) Style, style, style. Remember socialist Europe is where we get our designer eyeglass frames, Gucci bags, and French fashions. Instead of a strutting, Bible-quoting Texan, replete with southern accent and ‘smoke-em’ out lingo, they get an athletic, young, JFK-ish metrosexual, whose rhetoric is as empty as it is soothing. The English-only Obama lectures America on its need to emulate polyglot Europe; while a Spanish-speaking George Bush is hopelessly cast as a Texas yokel.
Victor makes the “modest prediction,” were Obama to be elected, “in 5 years, Europeans will prefer George Bush to a “We are right behind you” Obama.” I do not believe Obama will be elected. That will become clearer, I believe, as we approach the first week of November. And by then, I modestly predict, folks like Boris Johnson will discover that, upon mature consideration, they have always really supported John McCain after all.
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This week we learned that Boris Johnson has failed to intervene in a bid by Hammersmith and Fulham council to scrap all the proposed rented social housing units from a key development in Shepherd’s Bush.
I am stunned at this volte-face on the part of the Mayor in failing to insist that Hammersmith and Fulham ensure that a reasonable proportion of affordable homes are available in the development at Bloemfontein Road. By not intervening in the process the Mayor has effectively removed all the social housing units originally planned for this development – around 40%. It is directly contrary to Boris’ own words at the July Mayor’s Question Time meeting where he said that he would ‘certainly’ use his Mayoral powers to direct refusal of a development if he felt the application was ‘not achieving targets that would be for the benefit of London.’
This looks like a political decision on the part of Hammersmith and Fulham council – led by Councillor Stephen Greenhalgh, who sat on Boris’ Forensic Audit Panel. If this is going to be the Mayor’s future approach to such matters then I am extremely concerned about the precedent this could set for other key housing developments. Questions certainly need to be asked about the Mayor’s views on the value of social rented housing and whether he understands that for the poorest Londoners, shared ownership is still not an affordable option - we need to know what he is going to do to help this group.
It’s another example of the Mayor saying one thing and doing another. Despite his waxing lyrical at Mayor’s Queston Time on the need to protect London’s playing fields and open spaces, he didn’t stop his chums at Kensington and Chelsea selling off part of Holland Park School’s playing fields for development. If this is a sign of things to come I’m very worried.
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Young people with anti-social behaviour orders could be made to work in allotments, Boris Johnson's new food czar said today.
Former newspaper editor Rosie Boycott said the move would benefit the environment and give young people a sense of pride.
Ms Boycott has been appointed by the Mayor to chair the London Food Board, which aims to improve access to healthy, locally-produced and affordable food. She said she would also support local markets and encourage families to eat together.
"I want to advocate the use of allotments and growing our own food," she said. "We can lean on councils to release more land and kids on Asbos could be put to work on them. If you've grown your own food you feel prouder of it and appreciate it more. We also want to limit food waste and eat more locally. If everybody grows more of their own food we have a greener city and help climate change."
Ms Boycott, a former editor of the Independent on Sunday, has her own small organic farm and writes about the importance of food in improving health and in reducing the carbon emissions which cause climate change. She has also written a book about her experiences on her farm.
Mr Johnson said: "I am hugely excited that Rosie Boycott has agreed to chair the London Food Board and champion the provision of high-quality, nutritious food in the capital.
"Rosie is as passionate as I am about the importance of locally-produced, affordable food to our health and wellbeing as well as the role food can play in protecting our environment.
"Rosie is bursting with great ideas on how we can boost the level of top-notch food grown locally and support London's local, independent food industries and smaller shops."
Ms Boycott takes over the chair of the London Food Board from Green Party Assembly member Jenny Jones.
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July 2008
July 24th: After Crossrail is given go-ahead by Parliament, Boris warns that the £16bn Crossrail line must not take priority over a £30bn upgrade of the capital's tube network.
July 21st: Policy Exchange Director and former journalist Anthony Browne is appointed as Boris' Policy Director. Browne says:
"It is a real wrench to leave Policy Exchange, but the opportunity to develop policy for the first Conservative administration in London for over a quarter of a century was irresistible. I have lived in London for twenty years, and loved its extraordinary vibrancy and diversity from the day I moved here."
July 17th: Nominates Sir Simon Milton as Deputy Mayor for Policy and Planning. Sir Simon announces his intention to stand down as a Westminster Councillor and as Chairman of the Local Government Association, once a successor has been nominated.
July 16th: Backs a new initiative to break the cycle of reoffending.
July 14th: Appoints Sir Simon Milton as Deputy Mayor for Policy and Planning. Sir Simon announces his intention to stand down as a Westminster Councillor and as Chairman of the Local Government Association, once a successor has been nominated.
July 10th: Delivers on election promise to increase the "Living Wage for London" to £7.45 per hour from £7.20, nearly 35% higher than the national minimum wage set by Government. It applies to 27 organisations including the GLA Group, the Met Police, Barclays bank and Ealing Council.
July 9th: Publishes ‘Planning a better London’ - a report setting out how he intends to improve the quality of life for Londoners through the capital’s planning system
July 8th: Scraps CO2 charge which would have charged owners of large family cars £25 a day to drive in the Central London Congestion Charge zone.
July 4th: Deputy Mayor Ray Lewis resigns over allegations about his past life. Lewis, a high profile youth worker and former prison governor, was forced to resign following allegations of improper conduct and financial irregularity. Boris launches competition to design new Routemaster bus and welcomes the creation of a new 75-strong knife crime police unit.
July 1st: Boris announces that a five-week public consultation on the future of the Western Extension Congestion Charge will begin in early September.
June 2008
June 27th: Boris uses a Veterans Day celebration to announce that injured war veterans in London are to receive free travel on the capital’s transport network, whether they are residents or visitors, in recognition of their service to the country.
June 26th: Businessman Sir Trevor Chinn appointed Chairman of the Mayor's Fund, Boris' flagship policy for promoting philanthropy.
June 22nd: Director of Political Strategy James McGrath is controversially forced to resign after a website quoted him saying we should let Carribeans leave London if they don't like it there. Boris launches City review of London's financial services.
June 18th: Sacks "Ken's wimmin", including the mother of two of Livingstone's children. The salaries of the five senior women are believed to total £400,000, and the role of 'Womens Advisor' was scrapped entirely.
June 16th: Boris asks Transport for London and the Metropolitan Police to press ahead with plans to crack down on illegal cabs, after taking part in a fact finding mission where he saw the extent of the problem for himself.
June 11th: Terrorism expert Dr Peter Neumann, of King's College London, says that after the prime minister, home secretary and defence secretary, Boris is the UK's most high profile politician and therefore one of the first things the police would have done after he took office was to ask him to stop cycling because of the terrorist threat.
June 10th: Appoints Steve Norris and Kulveer Ranger to the TfL Board, and Tim Parker to chair it from September. Signs a City Charter co-operation agreement with London Councils.
June 5th: Sends a letter to Hazel Blears asking for there to be a two-term limit for the role of Mayor of London, in order to avoid cronyism. There isn't any limit at the moment.
June 4th: First mayoral press conference. Boris formally announces he is stepping down as MP, responds to the Tube parties, and gives updates on the progress of several of his pledges. Boris also stated: "I deprecate the idea of London being a testbed, laboratory or petri dish" for national Tory policy.
May 2008
May 27th: Decides to chair the London Waste and Recycling Board in order to work with London's borough councils to boost recycling in the capital and reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.
May 25th: Announces he will not renew the controversial oil deal with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez that provides cheap fuel for London's buses once the agreement ends later this year, although honours the half-price bus and tram fares for Londoners on income support that it funded.
May 22nd: Appoints businessman Tim Parker as First Deputy Mayor and Chief Executive of the GLA Group. He will not be paid.
May 17th: Pledges to get a portrait of Her Majesty the Queen put up in City Hall as under Ken Livingstone there was no such tribute to our head of state.
May 15th: Appoints Kulveer Ranger as Transport adviser. The young sikh is well-known in Conservative circles and was involved in the launch of Oyster cards.
May 14th: Decides to renew his weekly Telegraph column. Paul Waugh dubbed him 'four jobs Johnson' in relation to this column, his Mayoralty, his chairmanship of Transport for London and the Metropolitan Police Authority.
May 8th: Launches audit into City Hall finances headed by Patience Wheatcroft. Appoints former BBC man Guto Harri as Communications Chief.
May 7th: Moves quickly to ban alcohol on public transport. Move has popular support but the Tube is mobbed by partygoers the night it comes into force.
May 6th: Announces "respect schooling" plans with new Deputy Mayor Ray Lewis, Director the Eastside Young Leaders Academy.
May 2nd: Boris Johnson wins the mayoralty. After first preferences Boris gained 43% of the vote and Ken Livingstone gained 37%. After second preferences Boris gained 53% of the vote and Ken Livingstone gained 47%. Meanwhile across the country the tories gained a 20 point lead.
See also
Boris Johnston
Exit Red Ken
Mayoral mistakes
Has Boris Goofed? Or is he simply unlucky?
Cameron's school pic is pulled
Save our jam
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