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A serious Boris? You must be joking
Never before having had the opportunity to observe Boris Johnson trying to conduct himself seriously and responsibly, I have to confess that his various attempts to do so last week were deeply disappointing.
He can't do it. The harder he tried, the more insincere, incoherent, evasive and even puerile he looked and sounded, even enabling the Lib-Dem candidate to score points. Take away the gags and jokes and nothing much is left.
None of this will matter much if Boris loses. He could always resume the clowning. But should he actually win, the Tory party could be in serious trouble. For in the two years to the general election, Mayor Johnson would have plenty of opportunities to demonstrate his unsuitability for this important job; a demonstration which could hardly fail to raise the question of whether David Cameron - a horse from the same lightweight stable - would be likely, in office, to do better. In other words, the whole new Tory 'project' could be compromised, rather as the New Labour 'project' would have been compromised had Gordon Brown gone into bat first.
On the other hand, the prospect of another four years for Ken Livingstone is not much cop either. Last week was also the first time I observed much of him on TV, and I was worryingly impressed.
For unlike Boris he showed that he could be both witty and serious at the same time. Personally I hate the vulgar multi-cultured metropolis which Ken has helped to create. But the world in general seems to love it. Not living in London I won't myself have to choose between Boris and Ken which, under the circumstances, is just as well. ·
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Some years ago the City Of Portland, Oregon was run by the normal faceless bureacrats. Bud Clarke was the owner of a tavern in Portland. Some of his customers persuaded him to run for mayor. It was a joke - right? A bunch of guys sit around drinking in a bar and we all could tell the difference between common sense and stupid laws and decisions. To cut a long story short Bud Clarke won - and was a damn good mayor. Now the mayor of Portland is a man called Tom Potter, who used to be chief of police - who went down in history in that era for his opinion that jay-walkers should be jailed.
I can't vote in the London election but I sincerely hope Boris wins. A bit of irreverence and a sense of humour will be very welcome - as would a bit of common sense about people who overfill their garbage bins.
I think Mr. Peregrine Worsthorne's analysis this week is spot on.
Boris has displayed, like Major Dennis Bloodnok of the Goons, deliberate bluster but sincere
ignorance when pressed on policy, whereas Ken displays worrying competence and
plausibility.
Living in London, I want to vote positively for an able candidate to administer London in a
decent way with civilising policies; and who is capable of defeating a questionable Ken
Livingstone and his fellow travellers.
But as neither of the main contenders is competent, decent, and disinterested, a positive
abstention from voting for any mayoral candidate seems the right thing to do.
David Cameron and Boris Johnson are the best thing to happen to this country for decades. David Cameron resurrected the Tory Party practically single handed. When he made his speech without notes at the Tory Party conference, he showed he had the intellect, he showed he had the gravitas, he showed he had it all.
Boris Johnson has always had a deeply serious and thoughtful side to his character, if you bother to read his books and articles. He has phenomenal intelligence and is light years away from the cheap, bullying thuggery of Ken, adept poitician though Ken may be. Boris has shown in how he has conducted himself throughout ths campaign what a fantastic Mayor he will be and I for one, am praying that he gets the chance.