'Boris' ambition to be PM will make him a disciplined Mayor'

Today's Express (not online) includes a double page spread about Boris' ambitions to be Prime Minister.  It quotes former Telegraph Editor and biographer Andrew Gimson.

Whether true or not there's a long way to go before that should even be considered.  But, writes Trevor Kavanagh in The Sun, it is this ambition that will make him behave and not upset Cameron's chances of victory at the next election.

Nicholas Boles - Tory candidate for Grantham and Stamford - is in charge of Boris' first 100 days.  Nick, who was a Tory candidate for Mayor until illness struck and is now Francis Maude's deputy in preparing the party for government, will be helping the Mayor make key appointments over the next few days.  The Times reports that several key Livingstone aides will be sacked within days.

On Friday the Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, flies in to give Boris advice and to promise a new closer partnership between the world's two greatest cities.  Bloomberg is emerging as a close ally of the Conservatives - having addressed the Tory conference last October.

An FT leader also contains some good advice for the new mayor on his working relationship with Labour.  Don't pick fights, it warns.  Our expectation is that the 'fight-picking' is more likely to come from the other side.  We probably need a 'dirty tricks watch' to look for examples of Government ministers scheming to undermine the Boris mayoralty and Tory chances at the next election.

 

Comments

[Sally Roberts]

I think Boris has got to be careful to make sure that his serious side stays to the fore - although I don't want him to change personality and I love his rather surreal sense of humour! One of the things I most enjoyed in his Gateshead speech was the wonderful image of "Mr Leavingsoon" going round and round London on a bus with his Freedom Pass (Ken I hope you are enjoying the fine weather!)

[Mark Hudson]

I think the sad thing is that no Party could attract someone of the calibre, experience and vision of Mike Bloomberg. Instead, London has a Mayor who had no interest in the place until Cameron could find noone else to stand (and boy did he ask).

Still, the Blonde Buffoon deserves his chance to excel. I just hope he dumps the left-leaning, anti-City rhetoric that was so alarmingly articulated in the Party's recent Corporate Social Responsibility report.

[BAILIFF]

BYE BYE
Hi
It’s been a fun eight years and I would like to thank you for all your help in London achieving a 5% modal shift from car to public transport, a dramatic increase in re cycling, road safety reductions and improvements to the public realm and for pedestrians.
I sincerely hope that the new Mayor will build on these transport achievements to enable London to retain its position as one of the World’s leading cities.
As for me - I am now job-hunting (anywhere in the world!) and clearing my office.

.

Dave

Dave Wetzel,

***********************************************************************************

[Giles]

Mark @ 10.40, to be fair, Bloomberg is a non-party animal as well, adopted by the Republicans as their best bet to succeed Giuliani in a Democrat city. And I tend to agree with the belief that Boris is in search of a serious cv, which will discipline him as mayor. After all, why win one of the country's most prestigious posts, becoming, for the moment, the most powerful Tory around, if you're simply going to throw it away? Anyway, one thing Gimson's biography shows is that Boris is rather more complex and driven than his public persona allows.

[Peter W Watson]

READ AND DIGEST THIS LETTER FROM A REAL CONSERVATIVE "DAVE"....................
IT'S THE LISBON TREATY STUPID

PLEASE DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE OF THINKING WE LIKE YOUR LIBERAL CONSERVATISM..........

BROWN IS A LIAR - AS FAR AS WE ARE CONCERNED (WE 5 MILLION EX TORY VOTERS) - YOU MAY BE A LIAR TOO (LIKE THE EPP).

Sir, The massive rejection of Labour on May 1 must lay to rest any idea that the present House of Commons is the true representative of the British people. So it is clearer than ever that parliamentary ratification of the Lisbon treaty, without the promised referendum, would be devoid of democratic legitimacy. The people would be under no moral obligation to accept such an outcome. Governments across the EU should reflect on this iron rule of the British constitution: “No Parliament may bind its successors.”

This unrepresentative Parliament may pass the Bill to ratify the Lisbon treaty, but other EU member states would be wise to regard that as no more than a provisional ratification, which may later be revoked after a retrospective referendum — even if the treaty had come into force by that time.

Dr D. R. Cooper

Maidenhead, Berks

http://ironiestoo.blogspot.com/2008/05/dr-coopers-letter-to-times.html

[Editor]

Thank you Peter but please this thread is about Boris. All off topic comments should be posted on the front page in future please.

Thanks.

[Alan S]

I am not pleased that Nicholas Boles is managing the transition.

Boris needs a top CEO to be his right hand man given his own inexperience.

Boles is inexperienced and his future constituents in Grantham may wonder if they'll ever have an MP who ever gives them much attention.

[Cynic]

Pace Boles, it's also more than slightly surprising that a party employee should have any suggested role in employing civil servants. Imagine what the Standard would have said if Ken has likewise used a Labour flack to pick and make public appointments. So which is it? Is Boles coming on the City Hall payroll (surely not, given his desire to stay a PPC for a safe seat)? Or have we kicked off our first real administrative test since 1997 by using, utterly inappropriately, a party hack to make public sector appointments?

[Lindsay Jenkins]

I voted for Boris with enthusiasm - a word I don't normally apply to pencilling my cross in a little box. Fear of something worse is more like it.

And it wasn't just me. Boris energised not only the conservative base but prompted the LibDems and Labour to cross over plus the I-dont-votes.

Several Labour supporters told me while I was telling 'I dont normally vote for your lot but...'

So I hope Boris is not going to conform to some CCHQ vision of a mayor but continue to be his own man: the Boles role is, I agree, worrying. Yet I can't quite see Boris toeing a CCHQ line.

To those who believe he is inexperienced, not so. Boris turned the Spectator round. That's a business as much as any other.

I hope we are in for an interesting ride.

[Common Sense]

Ignore Cynic - a Labour troll if ever there was one.

In fact, Nick Boles is exactly the right man to manage the appointment and transition process: he has experience running not only a major think tank but also a manufacturing business; he is a great networker and will know who is right for which job; and he is political.

This last point is crucial. There are plenty of people in City Hall who were hand-picked for their jobs by Livingstone and his Marxist clique. Some of them will undoubtedly try to undermine Boris's administration from within. Since the election we've already seen them engaging in childish student union-style antics by refusing to deal with an elected member of the GLA (the ghastly Barnbrook) so there will need to be tight political control. Nick Boles is savvy enough to spot attempted subversion and has the force of personality to deal with it himself thus leaving Boris to get on with the job.

Civil servants are paid to implement the decisions of elected politicians. Political appointees are paid to ensure that it happens. Boris got the first preference votes of more than a million people on Thursday and it is their will that must prevail, not the prejudices of a few extreme left wing functionaries. If their consciences won't allow them to follow the will of the people then they can resign.

[Daniel Furr]

Boris will make a good mayor. He is more Sarkozy than Bush, understanding the important concerns like crime will be addressed in the first 100 days.

Alcohol will be banned on the tube within the next 24 hours.

[Umbrella man]

Really Daniel? Excellent!

[Lindsay Jenkins]

Commonsense - may I just point out what should be obvious - we did not vote for Boles.

[Chad Noble]

"Nicholas Boles - Tory candidate for Grantham and Stamford - is in charge of Boris' first 100 days"

Rolls eyes. If you can't get your chosen cameroon in democratically, use a blonde trojan horse.

Like Medvedev will face against Putin, Boris will eventually have to stamp his authority over CCHQ by reminding them that he, Boris Johnson, is the mayor.

Does anyone else fear CCHQ seeking to micro-manage Boris in true NuLab fashion?

[ToryJim]

Posted by: Daniel Furr | May 05, 2008 at 12:09
Alcohol will be banned on the tube within the next 24 hours.

Daniel Furr,

As a law-abiding citizen please can you explain to me why I should be banned from drinking alcohol on the Tube?

As it's not illegal to drink alcohol on the streets of London, why should it be made illegal on the Tube?

[DavidRHayes]

Unfortunately ToryJim, you are one of the ever decreasing number of responsible drinkers.

Although the act of drinking alcohol is not illegal, irresponsible drinking often results in crime and disorder. This can be particularly dangerous in a confined space, such as the tube.

[ToryJim]

Unfortunately ToryJim, you are one of the ever decreasing number of responsible drinkers.

So that means I have no option but to get caught in the crossfire?

If I'm sitting on the Tube drinking a can of beer whilst reading the Telegraph, who exactly objects?

What happened to freedom?

[asquith]

I thought Torygraph readers were more into sherry and gin than cans of beer :)

[DavidRHayes]

ToryJim, I sympathise with your position. But what can you propose to combat binge drinkers causing mayhem on public transport?

And asquith, regarding your stereotype, that's like saying Labour is the party of the working man.

[ToryJim]

As far as I can tell from two minutes' research, it is (still) against the law to be drunk in public.

http://www.advicenow.org.uk/go/feature/feature_104.html

Being drunk and disorderly is a crime and you may well be arrested or fined, rather than just told to quieten down. Being disorderly means being aggressive or abusive, or generally making a nuisance of yourself. Police can give you an on-the-spot fine of £80 for being drunk and disorderly. They can also arrest you if you are likely to be a danger to yourself or someone else, or if you are so drunk you won't remember being given an on-the-spot fine! If you are arrested you may have to sleep it off in the cells and may be charged in the morning

We already have laws in place to deal with public drunkenness - on the Tube or anywhere else - so why can't the police enforce them? Lack of manpower?

We don't appear to need new legislation in this area - just the will to enforce the existing laws!

[RealConservative]

Like others on this thread, I too am concerned about Boles' role.

[Buckinghamshire Tory]

I would have loved to see Boris Johnson as a Conservative Prime Minister, after David Cameron of course. Not as the fag-end of an unpopular government (like Gordon Brown), but rather like the natural successor of an outgoing Conservative Prime Minister (like Anthony Eden).

[woodentop]

A ban on alcohol on the tube? That would be good news. Do you think Boris could ban the eating of revoltingly smelly Big Macs as well?

[Malcolm Dunn]

Well let's see how Boris and Nick Boles perform. Personally I think we'll probably be pleased. Both are intelligent men and at least we will lose the corruption that has dogged Livingstone's regime.

[Not Boris]

Nick Boles is an arrogant, big-headed twit who cannot take criticism. Very few who have worked with him actually like or respect him. Boles has no experience in change management or in re-organising public sector re-organisation. The bureaucrats and unions will eat him for breakfast. It should be an edifying spectacle.

[Tory in USA]

"As a law-abiding citizen please can you explain to me why I should be banned from drinking alcohol on the Tube?

As it's not illegal to drink alcohol on the streets of London, why should it be made illegal on the Tube?"

Tony/Jim, Boris is right on this one, and actually he should extend the ban to all public transport and the streets.

An extra 5p tax on a can of strong lager won't stop the lout drinking 10 pints on the street and then causing trouble. But a 100 pound fine and immediate confiscation of his "stash" stands as good a chance as any of doing so.

That's what they do over here in the US, and actually binge drinking is hardly a problem. We just have the drugs and guns to contend with instead! :^

Saving your drink for home, or the pub, is a small price to pay for safer streets.

[Call me a pedant, but...]

agree with others. We didn't vote for Boles and I regard his involvement with suspicion - nothing I have seen from him has impressed me. In fact, quite the opposite.

[Cynic]

I even took my Labour trolling so far as to be an Area officer for a dismal few years. Actually, when I come to think on it, some of the other officers in my Area did very little to suggest they *weren't* Labour plants. As for Boles - what more needs to be said? If this was Ken, likewise using a flack from Labour HQ, the drones here would be the first to scream about it. If Boles wants to have a hand in selecting people for the public payroll, let him join it (and of course give up the safe seat Dave gave him). Otherwise, let's try ourselves to maintain the standards we'd like others to adhere to. But of course it's now too late for that. From day one, Boris is proving to be as politically seedy as Ken. What a surprise.

[Londoner]

Well that was a short honeymoon some of you lot granted Boris - was it three days?!

The Mayor is perfectly entitled to get whoever he wants to help him recruit his team and bed it down. I have no idea whether Boles would be any good as a permanent chief of staff, or how long he will stay, but I can't see the objection. Are people seriously suggesting that Boris should get a civil servant type to help him make his political appointments and work out who are Ken acolytes and who has a future role to play amongst the existing senior(ish) people? Are they also suggesting that Boris is so wet that he could have been forced to have Boles when he has just received the highest personal vote of any British politician in history? As Paxo might say: "Come off it!" Let's just be pleased that the party is making available such a top notch guy at this point.

The whole point about the Mayoralty is that the Mayor has a personal mandate. So Boles knows, along with everyone else, that he will only have a role "at the Mayor's pleasure" (to coin a phrase).

Would it not be better to judge whether Boles has helped Boris get off to a good start after his Cabinet has been appointed and then after the first 100 days, rather than before?

I may not be posting much longer on here, as I could be about to be appointed to that Cabinet myself of course...

[Cynic]

It's not a question of a honeymoon ruined I'm afraid. One of his election pledges was that all his advisers' details would actually be put online so, unlike Ken's regime, we the voters would actually know who was sitting at which desk at City Hall. No sign of Boles listed anywhere yet. So it's day one, and one pledge broken. Forgive me for suspecting that his imaginary new double deckers are going to go the same way.

[DBC Reed]

God this is boring. I would be more concerned that he's got Dave Wetzel to jump Tfl ship.Not the Dave Spart figure he's made out to be at all: in fact he's the leading expert on Land Value Tax with plenty of cross-party support and contacts everywhere.Boris needs to keep tabs on LVT as its the one sure way of paying for big infrastructure projects like Crossrail (which Steve Norris has realised.)