Boris Johnson: Mayor of London, Clown of England

North Star Writers Group ^ | May 5, 2008 | Llewellyn King

[Dukes Travels]

I would like to introduce you to the new Conservative mayor of London, Boris Johnson. He is remarkable. He is unique. His political success is based on the oft-repeated pratfall. Yes, Johnson has committed every political sin and is now at the helm of the most important city in Europe, and the one best beloved by Americans.

In the age of the technocrat, Johnson is more like something out of a P.G. Wodehouse novel. For more than a decade, the British media have been regaled by Johnson's “scrapes.” For example, he was demoted in the Conservative Party from a position on its front bench (which means that if the Tories had come back to power, he would have been a cabinet member) for variously insulting the city of Liverpool, antagonizing Pacific Islanders, and having an extramarital affair with Petronella Wyatt, a columnist at The Spectator, the weekly magazine which he edited.

[mickeylee]

Those darn conservatives!

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

[clee1]

Methinks I detect the sour grapes of a pack of leftist losers.

[dangus]

So, there’s all the bile the left could muster.

[reagan_fanatic]

I suppose having a mentally ill, delusional leftist as Mayor was better, huh?

[dangus]

nice.

[Petronski]

...Johnson has committed every political sin and is now at the helm of the most important city in Europe...

London is more important than Paris? More important than Berlin?

Please.

[bert]

London is a financial center. Paris and Berlin are not

[Petronski]

By that standard, Frankfurt is the most important city in Europe: it is the home of the ECB.

[Maine Mariner]

And of course the food is much better in London than in either Paris or Berlin.

[Bartholomew Roberts]

I studied at Oxford University one summer as a transfer student while completing my MBA. Our first day in London with a dozen fellow students we went to lunch and one fellow ordered BBQ chicken wings. They came out with the feathers still on! All nice and covered with BBQ sauce.

Yep, the best food in Europe!

[OSHA]

And of course the food is much better in London than in either Paris or Berlin.

Here.... http://www.texasembassy.com/

[A Strict Constructionist]

“the most important city in Europe, and the one best beloved by Americans.”

Surely you jest! The one best beloved by Americans?

[Clemenza]

Don’t let the Anglophiles fool you. Besides, London is even less of an English city than New York is an American city.

[Savage Beast]

"...and having an extramarital affair..."

"Indeed, everyone at The Spectator seemed to be having an affair at the time Johnson occupied the editor's chair."

Not that it matters, of course, but did Boudoir Boris and everyone at The Spectator commit perjury, obstruction of justice, intimidation of witnesses, sexual assault, or rape? Just curious.

[The KG9 Kid]

The only thing I can say negatively about Boris Johnson is that he's annoyingly taken the habit of combing his hair with a wet towel, but I really don't know anything else about the man.

[brityank]

ROTFLMAO !!

Thanks; best laugh in a fortnight!

[Labour-Watch]

London is more important than Paris? More important than Berlin?

Please.

Er, well yes actually:
In Businessweek's survey of top financial centers, this is how they ranked:
1 London
2 New York
3 Hong Kong
4 Singapore
5 Zurich
6 Frankfurt
7 Geneva
8 Chicago
9 Tokyo
10 Sydney

See "Who's on Top in the Money Trade?" at http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/03/0305_financial_centers/index_01.htm

[Labour-Watch]

And here's how Mastercard ranked them last year:
1. London
2. New York
3. Tokyo
4. Chicago
5. Hong Kong
6. Singapore
7. Frankfurt
8. Paris
9. Seoul
10. Los Angeles

http://time-blog.com/curious_capitalist/2007/06/london_is_the_worlds_most_econ.html