Why are you voting for Boris?

Iain Martin is the new Comment Editor of The Telegraph (click here to add your opinion to our thread discussing what he should do with the newspaper's opinion pages).  Iain's own Telegraph column of this morning makes the case for voting for Boris.  This is his favourite initiative:

"His most interesting venture would be the building of a bully pulpit with his proposed mayor's fund, designed to attract philanthropic donations from the City which would then be forwarded to voluntary organisations engaged in all manner of good and important work.  This quaint-sounding initiative carries within it the seeds of a bigger revolution in social policy which has been brewing in think-tanks and the brains of brighter Tories.

Livingstone and his kind require a highly bureaucratic, statist model, because it guarantees a lock on patronage and spending, which in turn delivers a client constituency, control and power in perpetuity.  Encouraging free institutions to work in concert, convincing them they need not be the creatures of government, is a condition for the overdue regeneration of our civic society."

We're pretty keen on that initiative too.  The philanthropic spirit in Britain is very weak compared to the US.  If Boris can make charitable giving fashionable in our country he could have an impact over many generations.

We also like Mr Johnson's commitment to crime mapping.  This will mean that the police will no longer be able to hide very different levels of crime and performance in different parts of London.  Those blighted by high crime will have the information they need to pressure the authorities for better policing.  Over time we'll also see which borough commanders are performing best.  Mapping was at the heart of New York's zero tolerance revolution.

Please use the thread below to state your favourite reason for voting for Boris.  A bottle of champagne for the best suggestion.  And not just any champagne - M&S champagne!

We'll then publish The Top Ten Reasons For Backing Boris tomorrow.

Comments

[Nicholas J. Rogers]

Because he's not Ken Livingstone...

[Jonathan Hoffman]

1. He will not spend £6m a year of our money on "The Londoner", a propaganda sheet no-one reads

2. He will cut back the City Hall Press/PR team which is three times the size of the one at 10 Downing Street.

3. He will make the Assembly a real check on the Executive

4. He will make City Hall spending transparent

5. He will appooint senior advisers on merit

6. He will not use his platform as Mayor to make antisemitic comments

[EJ]

He has no truck with divisive ethnic minority 'vote buying' through the LDA

he isn't Ken

He will bring in accountable cabinet style government, instead of ken's coterie of hangers on and 'old boys'.

[Sammy Finn]

Banning bendy buses of course!

[Lindsay Jenkins]

The hope that, like Hammersmith and Fulham Council, Boris will cut waste, produce efficient limited government that works and cut our taxes.

While I’m typing the critical reason why charitable giving here is not on the US scale is that vast disparity in taxation.

Why does the City which collectively and individually gives huge amounts to charity, always has done, runs schools, runs hospitals, why does it need a tax payer funded megaphone to drum up donations and a tax payer funded intermediary to dish out the dosh?

How socialist!

[Edward]

He realises that the way to give taxpayers better value for money is not to spend more of their money on advertising and gimmicky "newspapers" to convince them that's what they're getting, but to be at least a little resistant to hiking taxes at every opportunity.

[LondonLX]

A lot of the reasons for voting for Boris are that he's not ken... but I've thought he should be in power of sorts long before the run for mayor.
It's because he's excited about the exciting city that is London.
So excited that he doesn't always say what he's supposed to - but that just means he's thinking more of the subject and thinking up solutions rather then being a slimey salesperson.
A dull mayor leads to that resigned feeling.

The cabinet style that he's proposing is how I feel it should be - Experts heading their own sections and then a mayor at the top to lead and guide, rather than the mayor dictating to everyone what to do.

[TimberWolf]

I am not, and never would. I consider him to be a clown, and not worthy of the job.

[Christian May]

I think he should stress his London Cabinet - it's a great way to break the reputation that Ken has formed of London becoming the Mayor's private project, with a few friends thrown in as 'advisors.'

[Tony Makara]

I don't live in London but if I did I'd definitely be voting for Boris because his policies will directly improve the daily life of Londoners. Boris is saying what the voters are thinking.

[ACT]

I'm giving Boris a reluctant number two, as it were, because (cf. comment 1) he's not an IRA-loving Trot. I haven't decided yet where to waste my first preference - either the Christian nutjob or the UKIP inadequate I suppose. But, as his vacuum of a campaign has shown, there's not one single reason to actually vote for Boris. As other than a few of the Socialist Action goons being replaced in City Hall by a few of Bojo's, uh, 'incredibly diverse' campaign team, not one other thing will change.

[M Noorani]

The pledge to put all GLA spending above £2500 online. It puts downward pressure on spending plans and, in the aftermath of Lee Jasper's capers, encourages a culture of accountability.

It would also serve as a 'trial' for Osborne's similar pledge.

[englandism.com]

Vote Ken for a gravy train of pointless bureaucracy: Vote Boris and take the congestion out of City Hall.

Vote Boris because he has not been endorsed by George Galloway, Tariq Ali and Gordon Brown.

[Gareth Quinn]

Boris Johnson is a breath of fresh air to politics.
With fresh idea's he's the man to lead London out of the mess Red Ken has created.

[Alternative universe]

Because he's going to abolish the congestion charge.

Because he's going to cut council tax like Hammersmith & Fulham.

Because he's promised to work for half Livingstone's salary because he's already rich enough.

If he'd done the above things I would vote for him.

[James Wright]

Because this is a serious job and London needs serious change, it's not worth voting for him.

[Teesbridge]

Because when faced with a situation that requires action our Boris will pause, pause, and pause again before putting his hand into other people's wallets.

[Cleethorpes Rock]

Because he realises we're all individual Londoners and not part of a coalition of "minorities" and interest groups all with grievances needing money throwing at them.

[Yogi]

because
Boris will restore the dignity that befits the office of Mayor of London;

Boris will give value for money;

Boris will protect the Green Spaces;

[Dave McBay]

Boris is a buffoon but at least he isn't Livingstone (I really cannot believe how a huge city like London can end up with such uniformly terrible candidates).

[NorthernMonkey]

Dear, dear - what a shambles. The two main reasons seem to be:

1) He isn't Ken Livingstone and

2) He's a bit of a laugh (or gaffe depending on your perspective).

As I've said before, you better pray Johnson doesn't win because if he does, it will only highlight how utterly incompetent the man is. You'll never get elected in London again.

My personal favourite from this thread is from Yogi:

"Boris will restore the dignity that befits the office of Mayor of London"

Yeh right! There are many words I can think of when it comes to Boris Johnson, but 'dignified' isn't one of them. I suppose George Osborne will bring some 'dignity' to the job of Chancellor of the Excehquer as well will he?

[Graeme]

Because he will end the balkanisation of London into groups with ultimately contradictory political aims (Qaradawi vs the gay vote, for example, Inner vs Outer for another) and govern for One London. This is the transcendent difference between a Tory like Boris and a hate-mongerer like Livingstone.

There are other great tactical reasons for wanting any decent Tory rather than Livingstone: the focus on crime reduction, the management of (our) money, the level-headed approach to transport. But the reason your stomach as well as your head tells you to support Boris is that we will have city government free of a system of minority group patronage (patronage offered in return for smear campaigns come election time). No more Lee Jaspers at City Hall.

[Big Boy]

Because of his bad hair days?????

[angela]

1) He has made crime his first priority.
2)Teenage gun crime is one of his major priorities.
3) He is keen to make buses safer.

4)He will be open about donations. All expenditure will be clearly set out on the net.
5) He will scrap The Londoner and use the money to plant trees all over London.
6) He is not racially divisive like Ken.

[tory boy]

Because Livingstone was wrong to say that his opponent's only administrative decision at the Spectator was choosing where to go for lunch. According to Matthew Parris:

"And (having been one of Mr Johnson's stable of writers when he was editor of The Spectator) I must challenge Ken Livingstone's complaint that as former editor of a small right-wing magazine, the only administrative decision Mr Johnson ever took was choosing a restaurant for lunch.

"This paints an exaggeratedly hands-on picture of the Boris management style. His secretary did that kind of thing. You were just lucky if Boris came to the lunch."

[Jacqui Thomas]

I voted for Steve Norris before but it seems this time London activists have been less concerned with finding someone who could run the city, instead preferring a celebrity name like Jeffrey Archer, and not thinking about what job they might do, and what they might actually be capable of.

I was thinking of voting for Brian Paddick as a protest but that still leaves my second vote, and what to do about it, it's not a great choice that we have on polling day, even if you're a card-carrying Tory.

[Hackney Cats]

@Jacqui Thomas -- I suspect you *are* a card-carrying activist, though not of the Conservative Party.

PS Tory Activists didn't choose Boris - it was an Open Primary. I must have missed you at the hustings? Too busy shredding the documents at City Hall, perhaps.

[Watervole]

Because Boris has said he will build affordable housing on brownfield sites and use our resources effectively. There are already 80,000 planning permissions available in London for this purpose. It is not necessary as Labour propose, to build on the green belt.
In addition, Boris says he will bring back conductors and the faithful Routemasters which would be a very good thing. It will create jobs and improve customer service no end. Ken's point that the Routemaster's don't cater for the elderly is simply crap. The conductor always used to give old ladies a hand and look to see that no children or prams were in danger of being swept away or caught in doors. You are far more likely to get injured on the modern buses than you ever were on a Routemaster - the current drivers either cannot commmunicate or seem to think they are F1 guys. You got a far better service, and there was less fare evasion with a conductor service.

[Jacqui Thomas]

Hackney Cats = Graeme Archer?

Whether that's so or not, I think an open primary was a good idea but looking at the number of votes cast it's obvious that only a tiny number of non-members actually participated. The total number of votes was way less than 1% of the actual electorate.

Perhaps it would be better to have a panel of serious non-Conservatives and Conservatives, people who could do the job but didn't want to, to vet the candidates, a sort of "laughter" check or safety valve?

[Sophia]

Living as I do in the Loony Left controlled part of London called Waltham Forest, find they have no idea how their tax raising effects local business.

Last year they increased the Station Car Park fees by 500%, The income from the increased parking fees actually fell to zero because either the commuters decided to drive to work or got their partners to drop them off or just park in the local streets.

The idea had been to drive the parkers away and sell the land for cheap housing. In effect putting into practice the Morrison plan named after Herbert Morrison who said that he would "build the Tories out of London", i.e. build enough council housing to ensure the left had the majority of voters.

Of course the park was also used by customers to the local shops. So that hits the small shop keeper and this week they are getting another whammy with an increase in street parking fees.

One good thing Living-stone did was to stop the building of a huge Tesco which would have polished off the business community altogether.

It seems that the Mayor can overrule Local Government. Hip Hip Horay

So I back Boris because No1 He is a Conservative. No2 because he can overrule the Loony Left. No3 because he is the most normal of the three main contenders.

I can think of more but those three are the most important at this time.

[Not Boris]

It is pathetic how "Hackney Cats" dismiss critics of Boris as trolls from other parties or City Hall. As a card-carrying Conservative member for nearly 30 years, I share JacquiThomas's reservations about Boris as I have met him on several occasions.

The sad reality is that Boris Johnson lacks the political, intellectual and practical skills to run London. He floundered like a fish out of water on the Newsnight debate. Paxman made mincemeat out of Boris because he had not prepared and could not even answer basic questions on key policies, e.g. new Routemasters and the congestion charge. Boris made Livingstone look like an intellectual heavyweight.

Boris performed just as badly on the BBC London debate. In the end, the audience laughed at him. He was not funny. The audience just thought that he was joke candidate who was out of his depth.

Anyone who has had the misfortune to have to deal with Boris knows that Matthew Parris's comment, referred to above, is spot on. Boris is notoriously unrealiable, double-books his diary, is often late or even fails to turn up. The man is a huge political liability and could wreck our chances at the next general election.

I have not decided who to vote for but it certainly will not be the racist Bullingdon Buffoon.

[LondonLX]

@"not boris"
Until I see your card, I'm not convinced!

That is not to say that all conservatives do like Boris, but your post seems to be ooozing troll juice.

Will you be voting for this guy?: http://www.londonlx.com/fatherken.jpg

[MikeC]

Not exhaustive and in no particular order:

He supports the campaign to put a permanent tribute to Sir Keith Park, the man who saved London on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7353975.stm

He'll slash the GLA's PR (aka propaganda) budget

He won't sully the City's good name by sharing a platform and accepting handouts from the likes of Chavez

He'll run the city in a transparent and accountable manner - including cabinet style government and publication of all GLA spending

[Editor]

Apologies: The Ten Reasons List will appear tomorrow.