Boris Johnson confirmed on his website this morning that he was standing for London mayor, and then ten minutes later the post disappeared, leaving his millions of fans in a state of distraughtness. This came hot on the heels of an Andrew Pierce story in the Telelgraph speculating that Boris would announce his bid today. The deadline for applications for mayoral candidates is on Monday.
My expectation is that Steve Norris will throw his hat into the ring again and probably announce it in one of the Sunday broadsheets. Nozzer and Bozzer stand head and shoulders above the dozen or so other candidates who have announced their intentions so far, certainly in terms of public profile. Mike Read is someone I wouldn't underestimate though.
48 comments:
Wouldn't underestimate Mike Reed?????????
Is that what the Tory party has come to. For sods sake he's a reactionary DJ with a bee in his bonnet about so-called rights for drivers!!
Oh I hope bonking gaffe prone Bozzer does stand. Ken is currently chuckling in to his tea.
I heard it said many times that Boris is very popular with students. Students from Oxford and Cambridge, ie not in London. I like Boris, he's funny, but we laugh at him not with him.
Mike Reed, Boris and Norris. My God the Tories are in worse shape than I could have possibly imagined
It obviously takes a long time for steve Norris to take a hint.
The people of London dont want him, who is he apart from an ex Mp who once snogged edwina currie behind the bike sheds?
Boris would win, Norris is on a pathetic ego trip.
somebody put him out of his and our misery.
I would vote for Boris .
If it was just norris I couldnt be bothered , I dare say many other london conservatively minded people feel the same.
norris, boris and reed.
what a line up.
hahahahahahahahahaha
If he does stand, he'll win. I bet you.
Please, please, anyone but Norris. He has failed twice and the last time he showed himself to be more interested in earning large amounts of wonga from Jarvis than in serving the people of London. If he gets the nomination he will fail for a third time, leaving us stuck with Livingstone yet again.
Mike Reed would be a serious contender. He is less of an elitist as Boris and would not tend to make Cameron seem to be limited to Etonians in his selections.
Boris fitted well alongside Cameron Mark 1, when he was up against Blair. Cameron was charming, boyish and trying to outcharm the charmer. Boris was a good support in this endeavour.
Cameron Mark 2 against Brown has a new persona, more serious, authoritative and determined. Boris' moment might have slipped away already, if he cannot make a similar transformation. All this teasing on the Boris website and suggestion, is reminiscent of the earlier era. If you're in the game, Boris get to it.
Reed should definitely stand. He would be seen as a serious player with no doubts as to his interest in the business of running London.
It would then become a fascinating contest.
I wish I had as much time on my hands as Anonymous. Then I too could post multiple messages all effectively saying the same thing and covering my tracks by changing the use of case letters.
I hope Boris does stand. He is a formidably intelligent and capable man who would govern for all Londoners, not pander to groups like Livingstone does when looking to be divisive and eek out an electoral advantage.
Mike Read!!!! NOt another blast from the past coming back to our screens only to ridicule themselves for our entertainment: I thought IDS's package of howlers earlier this week took political comedy to a new length, but I would p*** myself if Mike Read stood as Tory mayor. Let it happen, let it happen!
PS
Mike Read has an official stalker who's named herself after him: Blue Tulip Rose Read. Go on Youtube and keyword her.
We need an Etonian/Bulingdon boy running London.He and Dave would make a great biking team.And when BB wins think what he could do to help Dave at the G/E.
Are the Tories suicidal, I’m being to think we are. Boris or Reed will be trounced by Livingston. The job of London Mayor is for a grown up, not a celeb MP or dreadful Ex Radio DJ ( Smashy ). I cannot even think why these two are even being considered. Coe or Digby would have been excellent candidates, but Cameron has totalled missed timed his approach to these two heavy weights. Instead the Conservatives are now scrapping the bottom of the barrel. Hand on heart time, not wishful thinking time; do you honestly think Boris would win. I for one think he will damage the Party nevermind win the contest.
Ken livingstone is blessed if these people are the best the Tories can do.
To all those Labour people who mock, some of us remember poor old Frank Dobson, who made Labour come FOURTH.
And let us be honest, if Livingstone had no re-joined Labour, who would Labour be putting up ?
Someone with a bit more street cred than the two bonkers.
As I do not live in London, who its voters decide to elect as mayor is not of great interest to me. Of much greater interest are the New Labour sock puppets flooding the comments section of this blog. What a revealing insight into their mindset. Their (unintentional) message seems to be "If you do not want this country to become a one party State get the Labour Party out of power as soon as possible."
Mike Read would be an excellent choice to be the Conservative candidate for the London mayoralty. He would brilliantly hold the torch for Cameron's changed Conservative party.
London is the countries melting pot. Scots, Liverpudlian Brummies, Georgies, Midlanders, Northerners, Southerners, fat thin etc etc, hasn’t Boz insulted them all at some point. My favourite Boris slip up was his insistence that Iran's hardline Islamic regime should be helped to develop a nuclear bomb.
Boris is like Santa Claus - we all pretend to believe in him.
Boris will be a fantastic candidate, and if he gets nominated, I shall vote for him.
The idea of Boris standing for Mayor is a really sad indication of the depths to which this one great party has sunk. 'Buffoon' Boris has absolutely no appeal except to the upper-class electorate in Henley. Can you seem him making the journey from Belgravia to Brixton? I think not. As others have said, if 'Bonkers' Boris, 'Shagger' Norris and 'Mike' Read (who he??)is the best line up available we might as well all go home and have a cup of tea.
My question though is this: why is does the Mayor have to be a party political figure? Why not just seek out the best person to lead London and get behind that candidate? The sight of the Tory party gyrating wioldly to find a half-decent candidate is frankly pitiful and distracting from the more important issues of teh day - such as pointing out what rubbish 'Burglar' Brown (who stole from our pension funds) actually is.
The mayoralty is a side-show. Disregard it. (Londoners would never elect a Tory anyway!) Let someone else take all the flak for a disintegrating city. Let's concentrate on saving the country from this mendacious, deceitful and thoroughly incompetent government.
Oh - and cancel the Olympics 2012 - they are a complete and utter waste of hard-working taxpayers' money.
Sorry, meant to say imwithboris.com
You can see the statement which had been removed from the front page of Boris's site here
Boris is a clown. Steve Norris is a grown up. Don't send a clown to do a man's job.
What a feeble lot of comments , Boris will make a superb candidate . He has an advantage over Mike read in that he knows something about Politics . he is also able to appeall to Liberals as well as the Party .
The camapaign could really set the Conservative Party on the front foot and I will be delighted to help.
'Distraughtness'????
Distraughticity?
Distraughtitude?
Distraughtilogical?
Distraughtful?
Distraughtous?
or
'very upset'
and Livingstone is not a 'grown-up', he is a nasty, vicious and spendthrift Tammany Hall-style shyster.
And that's the best I can think to say about him.
Boris for London!
Not shagger Norris - what a twat. As others have pointed out, he's obviously slow on the uptake.
He was unpalatable even before the business of preferring Jarvis plc to London during the last mayoral election.
Lord Stevens, Lord Coe even Nick Boles. Acceptable candidates that could win.
Borris, Norris and Reed. Sorry but they will not beat Ken.
Being a dopey MP and opposition junior shadow minister is fine. But running a multi million pound budget for 7 million people and the greatest city in the world.........
If you had to choose the world's leading capital city, London would certainly be on your shortlist.
Our capital deserves a mayor who does not pale into insignificance when compared with that which he represents, someone with intellect, charisma and international appeal.
Boris: born in New York, turkish ancestry, classical scholar, absolutely barking.
Something for everyone; he's the man.
I hate Tories, but I'd vote for him.
But running a multi million pound budget for 7 million people and the greatest city in the world.........
...when the only job you ever had was being a teacher for about five minutes. Yes staggering that we let a pantomimic attitudiniser like idiot Livingtstone loose on it .
BORIS FOR MAYOR
Anon 1.03
That is because you cannot understand what he is saying . Don`t worry Boris cares especially for the hard of thinking. He will insist all public buildings provide someone to translate into little words
Alliance of the Conservative & Unionist Party and the Official Raving Monster Looney Party establishes foundation for UK's natural Party of Government for the 21st century.
Cameron's backing of Borish (much more apt a moniker than "bozzers" which sounds like a defective sex toy; perhaps it IS appropriate after all!)echoes the previous masterstrock of Wm Hague's nomination of the noble Lord Archer.
Obvious strategy: BJ tours London boroughs insulting local residents from Barking to Bushy Park. This depresses his support in immediate vincinity, but generates great laughs from fellow looneys (both Official and Tory) as well as neighbors not yet insulted. In final days Borish surges as he taps into the natural self-loathing of Londoners ("Hermann Goering was right.")
If only Screaming Lord Sutch were with us to see it!
Would be imprudent to totally discount appeal of Borish Johnson for certain potential electors, esp. younger, hipper, more cynical, less partisan voters, also rightwing (unofficial) loonies. But this is NOT the kind of coalition likely to topple Red Ken.
Especially as many if not most of the folks lauding Borish on the web & elsewhere couldn't be bothered to get out of bed to pee on him if he was on fire, let alone taking the trouble to cast a vote.
After Nuts for Hazel, we obviously must have:
BONKERS 4 BORIS
Perhaps Iain could enlighten us all by explaining exactly why Mike Read is a credible candidate?
Mike Read??? Shurely shome mishtake? Most people I know think he's a prat. And I'd note that on "I'm a celebrity..." he was the first person to get binned, which would seem to suggest, admittedly in a deeply non-scientific fashion, that the bounce to be had from his celebrity profile might not exactly be massive. I've been very sceptical about a Boris candidacy but he beats Read by a mile. God almighty.
I like Norris, but the bottom line is that there's no point giving him the nomination if he's going to see it as the equivalent of an evening job while he keeps making money off various directorships in the day. That was very damaging last time round.
I still think Nick Ross would have made a good candidate, if he could have been prodded to stand.
A donkey would be better than Mike Read.
People have questioned my assessment of Mike Read. I have interviewed seven or eight of the potential candidates and Mike was the one who has impressed me most. Check out his interview here and judge for yourself
http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=e5dbee66257287a44c595439ad7173a5
Read's major plus is he's NOT Boris and doesn't want to kit out Iran with nukes.
re judith @4.25pm, you must have got in from work before me...
really iain,'distaughtness' indeed...
i think the word you were grasping for was, in fact, 'distress'
2/10...very poor, see me after lessons
distraughtness??????????
(distress surely - Ed?)
You did not interview Boris though did you Iain and what about Nozzer . You seriously think thast Mike Read would be better?
Boris lacks the interest in the subject and self-discipline to do this, just as with all his other shadow "jobs."
Except him applying for this one would have seriously bad consequences for the Conservative Party.
Newmania 4.47 PM said...
...when the only job you ever had was being a teacher for about five minutes. Yes staggering that we let a pantomimic attitudiniser like idiot Livingtstone loose on it.
Ken Livingstone wasn't a teacher even for 5 minutes. He qualified as a teacher but never worked as one. His main job was as a laboratory technician in cancer research.
A few weeks ago the House of Lords, in an amendment to the Greater London Authority Bill, voted to restrict the Mayor of London to a maximum of 2 terms in office.
The Government could overturn that but Gordon Brown is no friend of Ken Livingstone so they might decide to let the amendment stand. That would scupper Ken's chances of a third term.
God save us from this bumptious twerp. How is anyone going to take us seriously with him around? It's a pretty serious and important set of elections we face in May 2008.
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