Boris is Mayor of London
Boris Johnson is the new Mayor of London. In a contest that has fascinated media all over the world, Boris beat his rival, the eight-year incumbent Mayor Ken Livingstone, by 139,772 votes. The election drew a record turnout by London voters, reflecting the high profile of the two main candidates.
Political commentators describe Boris as the most powerful elected Conservative politician in Britain today. As such, he has promised to work “flat out” to repay the confidence of Londoners and to make Greater London “greater still”.
106 Comments
Well done Boris. Although I’m not from London but have had a keen interest in your campaign. I always felt you would win. Now you need to give Londoners back the London they want.
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Boris
Congratulations on winning the election. I would love to have been a fly on the wall when Red Ken got back home.
I am sure you are aware of this, but the Congestion Charge is crippling small start up businesses and customers are staying away from congestion charging zones like North Kensington. This is a fact. I know because I am a small start up business in North Kensington! Want to see my balance sheet?
Shops have been standing empty for months now on Golborne Road and Portobello Market is not as busy as it used to be since the charge came in.
PLEASE, SCRAP THE CONGESTION CHARGE! £5 out of the £8 charge is used just to run the scheme leaving £3 to be invested into transport. Total craziness… please come up with something better than this mad cap and expensive scheme!
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You say that ” “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.” Do you really think that the thousands of inebriated citizens staggering around the tube and streets of London are the one’s perpetrating murder, rape, theft and gun/knife crime across the city? If so, what proof do you have to show that there is such a link? Where are your statistics to justify such a draconian measure? Moreover, if your reason for banning alcohol on the tubes is that it the drunken louts make our tube rides unpleasant, then why don’t you ban talking? Having to listen to most people’s inane conversations makes my trip – and I would wager you, everyone else’s – on the tube much more unpleasant than a few drunken people. You need to get a grip on reality Boris, I fear for London I really do.
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Great to be among friends congratulating Boris: and he’s brought sunshine to the capital in more ways than one!
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I’m interested to read why people voted for Bojo. If you’re interested in why so many of us will miss Ken, you might want to read this:
http://plattitude.blogspot.com/2008/05/goodbye-to-ken.html
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Hi Boris,
Congratulations on winning, but I’m really disappointed that you chose banning booze on the tube one of the 1st things you do.
It’s a policy so typical of the old regieme.
Being autoritarian and restricting the masses for the problems caused by the few.
Drinking isn’t a problem on the tube – Drunks are. But I challenge anyone to drink on the tube and be drunk before they get off.
Plus… as it looks like there’s a huge advertising budget to tell people what they can’t do – which isn’t going to stop a drunk punching someone because they’re bored becuase they can’t drink.
I strongly supported your campaign but hoped this policy would be dropped when you realised it was stupid – it’s ken all over again…. I’m dissapointed
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Melissa, great and mighty although the new emperor is, he is not responsible for the weather.
Don’t let all of this go to your head, dear friend.
You’ll be saying next that he stands a chance of cutting crime and improving transport.
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banning alcohol on public transport: a good headline for the papers, but a poorly thought out bit of policy: who is supposed to eject the angry drunks from buses or trains. Is Johnson going to take a turn?
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Keith Norman, the general secretary of Aslef, the train drivers’ union, said: “This augers rather badly for changes in tube laws if the mayor pulls policy announcements out of the hat without any consultation with the people he expects to enforce them.
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YOU MUST START BEFORE YOU ARE READY!
•If you wait to prove that what you’re going to do will work and is the best possible use of resources, you’ll never do anything
•In this sense, taking no risks is the biggest risk of all
•The keys are therefore:
–Gather what evidence you can in the time available, do the analysis that you can and make sure you’ve involved everyone who can contribute
–Give yourself space to scale up or down if possible
–Continue to listen and develop good monitoring and feedback loops
–Prepare to learn as you go –and to make changes and refinements in the light of experience
ROYAL SOCIETY OF STATISTICS: COLES J., 10 RULES FOR EVIDENCE BASED POLICY MAKERS
http://www.rss.org.uk/pdf/080123%20rss1.pdf
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OK, let’s take stock. Three days into the job and he’s
- Got to work on the deadweights in City Hall
- Appointed a (black) Deputy Mayor for Children
- Bagged New York’s crimebuster mayor as an advisor
- Prepared for 400 community police to tackle anti-social crime
- Commissioned detection equipment to deter knife crime
- Setting up tough weekend camps for yobs
- Banned booze on the Tube
- Built bridges with the Met Police chief
- Won over thousands of doubters
… and stuffed all those who foolishly and maliciously tarred him as a “bumbling racist toff”.
Keep it up, Boris! The sun came out as soon as you were elected – and it’s getting warmer each day.
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PaulD left off one other Boris achievement, perhaps the most important of all. London now feels there is hope.
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Boris,
How are you going to police your latest policy on ‘no alcohol’ on public transport? Does this extend to the tens of thousands of commuters, carrying home their bottle of wine home they have bought from Marks & Spencers, to be enjoyed after a hard day’s graft in the office? Will it allow the individual to carry home their bottle of sherry on a London Bus? Tell me, surely your policy should be not to allow ‘drunks’ on public transport! Surely drunks are the biggest problem!
Please clarify this stupidity.
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Glad to see that Boris is indeed dealing with the most pressing issues first.
I have witnessed those revellers getting a four pack of Special Brew and going for a cruise on the 53 bus route rather than taking the scooters or Fiat Punto out for a spin.
Any chance you could install deodorant dispensers on the Waterloo-City Line as well? Some of these pleb traders do whiff a bit.
As ever Boris… the when the proverbial hits the air movement devices and you have my unflappable support.
Old Whiffy.
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keith Norman, the general secretary of Aslef, the train drivers’ union, said: “This augers rather badly for changes in tube laws if the mayor pulls policy announcements out of the hat without any consultation with the people he expects to enforce them.
It does, indeed, as Katy Bennett says, sound like ill-thought out stupidity.
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The first step to tackling crime is a real welcome one. My only wish was you could extend the drinking rule in tubes, busses etc to all forms of drinking in public places. Often it is very difficult to explain to my daughter as to what are a bunch of people doing with cans and bottles in the corners. It is not only irksome but intimidating. I hope that fear of walking the streets is some day eradicated to a large extent.
Am so far happy i voted for you and hope the feeling lasts.
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The objections by Aslef and Bob Crow say more about Aslef and Bob Crow than they do about this excellent scheme. “Consultation” is all very well, but haven’t we consulted ourselves to a standstill under this government, who end up ignoring what people want anyway?
What’s needed is action and the vast majority of Londoners will welcome it. I cannot see the fun-loving Boris introducing any ban unless it was for sound reasons and didn’t have any serious knock-on effects.
To Katy, you might read up on the proposal before sounding off. From what I’ve seen you would be perfectly at liberty to carry drink in your shopping. It’s louts swilling booze they’re after.
And isn’t Boris planning to put hundreds more security police on the underground? It will be them in the front line, not Bob Crow or Keith Norman.
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Boris, I see in the Torygraph that you are consulting with the Los Angeles police commissioner to seek his views on street crime. If you can manage to get London street crime to the Los Angeles level we will all be very impressed.
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Boris congratulations.
On the 1st of June with the ban of alcohol consumption on TfL, Tube, bus and DLR. Will the technology supplied by Integrated Security Solutions Ltd (ISS), be the ideal solution in combating the infingement on the alcohol ban forthwith.
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what are you going to do about rough sleepers like me abandoned and ignored for too long by westminster city council?? your police to harrass us even more i suppose?
i have been on the streets of london without real help since 2005
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Well done Boris. When you gave up your weekly column in the Expat Telegraph I was despondent but hopeful that you would be successful and herald the beginning of the end of the symptoms (causes) that persuaded me into exile many years ago. I have every faith and hope that you will live up to your promises and reclaim London (my birthplace) for Londoners of all persuasions. Good Luck
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Well done Boris!!!
I vowed if you won the race for mayor that I would call my first son Boris in your honour
I guess I’ll have to keep that promise now.
Bring fun and pride to the people of London.
Good luck!!
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well boris congratulations boris you and your team will do a very good job in london.boris you are the the top man for that job may i say how lucky to have such a mayor and you and your team will do a better job then ken,i would like to wish you and your team at city hall all the very best of luck.good luck from michael cullen from putney london.
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Good luck Boris and do not be put off by the unintelligent Labour-supporting morons. You will make London great again.
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Well done, and good luck. I have watched and listened closely for the past few months and I am convinced you are up to the job, alot of Londoners have also thought the same. Don’t let us down for believing you should be in the driving seat, its a big job, a big budget and alot of people to keep happy, I say again, the very best of luck.
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It’s a shame Boris wasn’t able to keep an election blog, I’m sure it would have made interesting reading. And who knows, maybe material for a memoir in the future?
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GO BO JO I LOVE U AND I THINK U ROCK (AND VERY TAPPABLE INDEED) 3 CHEERS FOR THE NEW MAYOR OF LONDON :0)
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Congrats!
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The Standard reports: “Transport for London chiefs have told the new Mayor that his less confrontational approach is already paying dividends with train firms and will as a result rapidly speed up the spread of the [Oyster Card] system.”
Any sign yet of humble pie eating by Ken’s supporters?
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Many congrats, Boris, well done x
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Many congrats Boris from someone in Scotland! Keep taking the mic out of those loony lefties and all that political correctness! Even though most of us this side of the border are not Conservatives we love your style and your honesty and of course your sense of fun! Bring it on
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Although I don’t have a Tory bone in my body, and consider most of them as utter fools, I am so incredibly happy that you beat that offensive, nasty little man in the London mayoralty race. It is such a breath of fresh air to have you as the Mayor. I wish you all the best, and hope I don’t have to regret my words!
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Boris Johnson’s nanny state.
So Johnson has banned alcohol on the tube.
I resent very much that after a week at work I can’t wander onto the tube and drink a tinny while minding my own business. Go and have a look at the tube system’s in Munich or Oslo. Everybody’s drinking beer on a Friday evening.
The problem is drunks, not drink.
Boris Johnson’s solution is very tory-boy nanny-state.
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well done Boris the city has come to it’s senses. Long live the Mayor
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Wilson, might I suggest you move to Munich or Oslo where they appear not to have booze-guzzling oiks frightening the life out of women on late-night trains? It’s these people the new law is aimed at, not those minding their own business.
Unlike Labour’s “nanny state” bans and restrictions which have brought the pub trade to its knees, this one has no negative consequences worth speaking of.
For every Munich and Oslo you will find a dozen cities where drinking on urban transport is not allowed and no-one has a problem with it.
Beside which, my mother said drinking and eating in public is plain bad manners.
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Thank God you won, Boris. But please don’t let us down. I applaud the fact that you paid tribute to Ken for the good he has done. That is much more magnanimous than the usual critical remarks and puts you in a very good light as a fair person – well done!
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pauld: “It’s these people the new law is aimed at, not those minding their own business.”
Yes, but this nanny-state legislation will be used by officious officals to stop me having a quiet can of 3 percent lager after work on a Friday. It’s pure nanny-state stuff, limiting worthwhile freedoms that used to show what a tolerant place Britain was. It’s nanny-state.
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I agree with the comments above. The public transport alcohol ban is ill thought-out nanny-stateism.
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Yes, Wilson, I agree that Britain used to be a tolerant place until New Labour set neighbour against neighbour by forcing upon us its uncompromising views on equality, multiculturalism and human rights – not to mention the total ban on smoking in pubs, which has not only brought the trade to its knees but antagonised a quarter of the population.
Your 15 minutes of lager, or lack thereof, is nothing in comparison.
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Great news your in Boris, but please stop rapists being let out and tagged…!!!
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Mr Johnston, Firstly , congratulations on becoming the Mayor of London and hope that now that you have this position you will not be supporting the Mega Mosque in London as Red Ken did.The people of the UK have had enough of Islam and its teachings and it is time that the people were told the truth of what is going on inside the Mosques and Muslim ENOUGH IS ENOUGH and we dont want to go through what the countries in the Middle East have had to under Islamic rule.
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Sat Sri Akal Mr Johnson and congratulations.
I really do hope and believe that you will live by your convictions and endeavour to shape London as a truly diverse and accepting community.
London’s uniqueness is second to none and sadly too many Londoners are feeling abandoned by senseless political opinions and policies.
Please use common sense and hear the voice of the public.
Thanks
ASR
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mmmmm lager, I think I’ll get up and go to the pub watch the test match over a few cold lagers.
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Thank god ken is gone!
Good luck, hopefully you can make London greater!
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The Boris era is here at last a man with a sense of humor this will be the best thing that has as happened to london for many years, Boris was worth voting for, the best man won and may he be there for as long as time last…..Red Ken no more Ha..Ha…Boris is here to stay….well done Boris you are the MAN….to change this London town…..
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The election was hugely exciting, and prompted far more people to vote than before, and everything I have read in the newspapers about the new Mayor’s aims and ambitions is also hugely exciting.
For a start our new Mayor seems genuinely positive and enthusiastic, itself a first for ages in British politics, after the miserable faces and cowed body language of the present government, and secondly we have a Mayor who is intelligent enough to address the root of the problems facing Londoners and even the Guardian newspaper has been honest enough to admit this.
Even Gordon Brown is getting behind Boris on the knife crime issue, and better late than never. If he has to get all his ideas from the Mayor’s initiatives, so what, this issue is so serious it transcends politics and the important thing is, the problem is being addressed and we should give both of them 100% suport.
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“For years I have struggled to get on the Coucil Housing list. The first time I registered I was asked several questions such as, are homeless? are pregnant? have got children? are you taking drug? have you been to prison? have got an illness? are you HIV positve.
To all of those questions I replied no, to be told therefore I do not qualify for Council Housing and will not be a priority.
That was 15 years, today I am still not a priority because I still don’t fill the criteria and earn and income which apparently is above average.
I have worked all my life never been on the dole and yet because I choose to work I do not qualify for council Housing despite contributing to sustain those people who are not contributing to this society. No wonder why people don’t want to get off the doll,the doors are open to them on a lot of things. I was thinking of changing my mind on that and at the next opportunity be on the dole and be a state statistic!!!! I might jump few places on the council waiting list????
Isn’t it time now to change this old fashion approach to housing ( point system)and give a chance to young working people on low income to be equal on the Council Housing market. I believe that working , healthy people are being overlook just for earning an income and being healthy.
So Mr Johnson as the new elected Mayor of London I am hoping that this issue will be looked into seriously and changes are going to be made for working contribuying people in this society. “
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Congratulations Boris and well done for sticking to your own values regarding the Blair issue.
We need more straight talking and forthright polititions that are prepaired to make some important decisions, even if they might be unpopular amongst a small number of the old school.
I hope the rest of the future government take your lead and run the country in a way that helps the hard working masses and not use them as an ever increasing form of income to support the none contributors of this country.
Keep up the good work.
Barry
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What a pity this web site is not showing the May 3rd telegraph picture of Boris Coracling on the Thames.The only London mayor ever to get in a coracle.If he is brave enough to get in a coracle (and few Britons are) then he will be brave enough to tackle all the issues his new post demands.You can find out about the high adrenaline sport of
Coracling on the coracle society my space.
http://www.myspace.com/coraclesociety
Recently we tried to get an e petition going promoting Coracling as an Olympic sport competed in at the 2012 Olympics.This failed so we wrote to Sir Steve Redgrave on his web site & this too failed.Now we are writing here on Boris Johnson`s web site to see if any reader here can put in a good word.
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Hello Chris. My understanding is that people are now bidding for the 2016 Olympics as 2012 is officially long since done and dusted for ‘official sport’ categorisation. Why not raise the profile of coracle-ing by offering to stage a race in the cultural events surrounding 2012? Alert some media people and put on a truly Olympic/athletic event to boost your case and also showcase this part of Western Europe.
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