Boris Johnson celebrates his first year as London Mayor today and most Tory members say that they are satisfied with his performance although a very large minority doubt that he is yet a credible Prime Minister in waiting:
He has made a massive impression on the public and Time magazine yesterday announced that he was one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
A ConservativeHome poll of Tory members finds that his role in the ousting of Sir Ian Blair was his most important act since replacing Ken Livingstone.
Freezing council tax, banning alcohol on the Tube, opposing a third runway at Heathrow and opposing an extension of the congestion charge also feature prominently.
In recent days Boris has announced a plan to devolve more power to local government in London. He has also been in the newspapers for apparently wanting to be Prime Minister after he has finished at City Hall. Last Saturday he told ConservativeHome that talk of him despising David Cameron was "tripe". He also said that the London Mayor job was "almost certainly" his last big job in British politics. Not many Westminster insiders believe him.
After some early difficulties with staff picks he is carving out his own brand of modern Conservatism in London. He has annoyed traditional Tories by expressing sympathy for an amnesty for illegal immigrants but delighted others with his fierce opposition to higher taxes on London's wealth creators.
Speaking to ConservativeHome he says that his record shows that "you can cut public spending if you really want to." He said that he was very proud of the team he was building at City Hall and that he was proving that better services could be delivered while freezing Londoners' council tax.
He said that he was most proud of the efforts that he had made in fighting crime. London was getting safer and safer, he said, and putting more police officers on the beat and into the transport system would remain a top priority.
He issued a "massive Mayoral apology" to me after I told him that my fourth bike had been stolen - just last month. He promised a rent-a-bike scheme soon that might solve my problem. The environment would be a "passion" in the remainder of his term, he promised, and he hoped to make substantial progress in sponsoring Electric Cars across the capital.
Being London Mayor had so far been a "fascinating and demanding" experience. It was the most rewarding thing he had done in his life. He had very few frustrations although the London bureaucracy was sometimes "treacly".
"I want to stand for a second term" he said but had not taken a final, final decision. The Tories are currently 12% ahead in London but he will be running for re-election in what is likely to be the mid-term of a Cameron government and the Tories might be unpopular across the country because of painful decisions on the budget deficit. Boris has made a great start but re-election won't be a cakewalk.
Tim Montgomerie
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/01/boris-johnson-year-london-mayor
"I was wrong about Boris Johnson"
Yay.
Posted by: David Galea | May 01, 2009 at 13:10
Happy 1st Birthday, Boris - You are a total superstar!!
Posted by: Sally Roberts | May 01, 2009 at 13:14
Boris has clearly been a huge positive influence on the public perception of Tories in office.
Well done BoJo.
Posted by: ToryBlog.com | May 01, 2009 at 13:25
Bravo Boris! What a star!
Posted by: Freddy | May 01, 2009 at 14:01
But London is not really any different than a year ago.
Posted by: memberati | May 01, 2009 at 14:22
Wow, forgot a year had passed. Congratulations, sir!
Posted by: Raj | May 01, 2009 at 14:23
Why didn't you put the Queen in your list of achievements?
Posted by: Pink Tory | May 01, 2009 at 14:32
Yes, putting up a photo of the Queen in the part of the UK where she is least popular (with the possible exception of Scotland).
Well done.
Posted by: denial | May 01, 2009 at 14:44
Congratulations Boris! Bingo, I can connect here, but not on the main thread!
Posted by: Patsy Sergeant | May 01, 2009 at 14:55
The Poll is interesting best initiative, being to ousting of Ian Blair and the lowest being his rather odd support for an amnesty for Illegal immigrants. Of course such results tells us more about the party faithful than about Boris, nevertheless interesting.
"better services could be delivered while freezing Londoners' council tax."
Which has to be the way forward for the Nation. It is not surprising that he can make cuts and increase efficiency, the public services have been on a recruitment binge. There must be many thousands of council employees who would not be missed.
Posted by: The Bishop Swine | May 01, 2009 at 15:23
What I like is that even after a year, you get the feeling his direction is still to improve London as best he can, which is a total turnaround from ken who just wanted to make life more difficult at every step.
Sure he's stuck in the middle of bad councils still making life difficult (Westminster making bikes register&pay etc) and a bad government who are also out to get him, but he hasn't let that get him down. Go Boris!
Posted by: Norm Brainer | May 01, 2009 at 16:29
A massive improvement on Livingstone and he has cut wasteful spending. But a total superstar? I think not.
His comments about an amnesty were in my opinion spectacularly ill judged as was the ill thought out Thames Estuary idea.
So a lot of room for improvement,but I have no doubt he can.
Posted by: Malcolm Dunn | May 01, 2009 at 16:36
Sorry to hear about your bike Tim
Posted by: DCMX | May 01, 2009 at 16:45
'but he will be running for re-election in what is likely to be the mid-term of a Cameron government and the Tories might be unpopular across the country because of painful decisions on the budget deficit.'
Cometh 'that' hour, cometh the man. Not just for London but for England when the positioning will be beyond perfect.
The beauty is that Boris will leapfrog David not by design, vanity nor conceit, but by circumstance. The right person at the right time (yet to come).
Posted by: englandism.co.uk | May 01, 2009 at 18:03
Boris Johnson has made some very impressive achievements, in a relatively short period of time. Indeed, he has been applying true Conservative values in regard to so many different issues. This is just what London needs!
Any concerns? Well, the suggestion of an amnesty for illegal immigrants was absurd. I (and many others), would also be interested to know what is destined to happen with Jubilee Gardens; regarding development proposals for that area?
Posted by: Julian L Hawksworth | May 04, 2009 at 09:41
aww i heart boris <3
Posted by: simpleelegance | February 26, 2010 at 08:17