by Martin Hoscik, Editor
First Published: Saturday 05 July 2008, 10:29
Boris Johnson has tried delegating his job away to become some kind of front man but, as this report by the BBC’s Tim Donovan shows, this has led to personal embarrassments as he denied decisions taken in his name by staff with grandiose job titles.
He’s tried his ‘Have I Got News For You’ act and it left him red faced when he denied the existence of a “secret” document which had been on a Government website for months.
And he tried doing all of this while handing out impressive sounding vanity titles to give the appearance that his ‘deputies’ weren’t just salaried staff. Critics had accused Johnson of giving these vanity titles to his “mates” but after the events of yesterday it’s now clear he gave them to just anyone, irrespective of how little he knew of them.
As the media feast for a third day on the Ray Lewis story there surely can’t be anyone left who thinks blurring the lines between elected politicians and salaried staff by handing out ‘deputy mayor’ titles was a good idea.
The nuanced difference between the honourific title of ‘Deputy Mayor of London’ and ‘Deputy Mayor for Young People’ has clearly been lost on the wider public and media - why else would so many reports make reference to Boris’s “number two” when discussing anyone other than Deputy Mayor of London Richard Barnes?
There’s plenty of time for Boris to become the excellent Mayor Londoners deserve but to do that he needs to start showing he’s the one in charge. He should start by restoring the office of Deputy Mayor to the status it enjoys in law and ensure in future no-one can be confused about the identity of the office holder and the status of his personal staff.
The accusation the Tories often made against Ken Livingstone was that he failed to change his mind when wrong. There's no escaping that Boris was wrong on the ‘deputy’ issue and it’s time for him to correct that.
Related stories:
Johnson Launches Investigation Into Ray Lewis Claims
‘Policy Director’ Really Would Have Been Better
'Deputy Mayor' Ray Lewis Resigns
Boris Johnson Admits He Was 'Misled'
2. at 15:11 on Saturday 12th July 2008, angela wrote:
Because of his tough childhood, Ray Lewis has invaluable experience which would help in fighting knife crime. He was in a unique position to help. He hasn't been convicted of anything, and if the allegations are so damaging, why didn't the Church make it crystal clear when he was appointed to Boris Johnson that there were going to be problems? Mr. Lewis's academy has given hope to many kids whose lives would otherwise have been ruined, so it is understandable that Boris Johnson was keen to enlist his aid.
It is the Church who should apologise for the way this is playing out, this could damage the future of the academy and jeopardise what Ray Lewis has achieved. If this was done from a political motivation, without regard to the damage to the kids in the academy and without regard to the fact that a valuable source of help against violence in London has been removed, that would be truly appalling.
All Boris Johnson was doing was trying to make London safer, and an extreme problem demands extreme solutions. Instead of trying to drag him down, why not get behind him in finding solutions, while accepting that not every solution may be ideal in every way? The London Assembly seem to want to put every obstacle they possibly can in Boris's way, what a childish petty attitude when London is facing crisis.
3. at 21:38 on Sunday 13th July 2008, Martin (Editor) wrote:
'The London Assembly seem to want to put every obstacle they possibly can in Boris's way'
Angela, not sure I understand this comment - Lewis's resignation had nothing to do with the Assembly.
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1. at 17:00 on Saturday 5th July 2008, Chris, SW19 wrote:
face facts bojo doesn't know how to run London and the deputies aren't going anywhere because he has noone else to rely on.
i'm just wondering how the clown got through gay pride without causing offence.