Boris Johnson has been criticised for describing his reported £250,000 salary for writing for the Telegraph newspaper as “chicken feed”.
The Mayor made the comments during an interview on the BBC Hardtalk programme. Shortly after coming to office the Mayor announce he would be giving some of his salary to charity.
The comments are potentially damaging for the Mayor, coming just weeks after a senior aide was forced to resign for misusing his City Hall credit card and Johnson’s own expenses revealed a culture of taking taxis even on short journeys where public transport options were readily available.
Johnson has also had to backtrack on his policy of handing staff “bauble” job titles following a string of negative headlines in the wake of multiple resignations.
During last year’s election campaign access to Johnson was strictly controlled by his campaign team, with access becoming even more difficult after he was overheard telling a voter that the cost of a flagship policy to re-introduce the Routemaster bus could be more than £100m higher than he’d previously claimed.
Laboour member of the London Assembly John Biggs said the Mayor’s comments showed he was “out of touch with reality.”
Leo says
July 14, 2009 at 2:56 pmLet us face reality here : The post as Mayor for London is an enormous responsibilty that would be very time consuming and the number of issues and taskes that The Mayor has to deal with at any one time is endless. Each issue requires time , thought , planning , carrying out and monitoring . On top of this The Mayor attends functions and various meetings . One would wonder how The Mayor could find any spare time .
The Mayor for London Boris Johnson is also paid £ 250 ,000 a year to do work for The Telegraph . If you paid someone £ 250 ,000 a year you would expect a big commitment that would take up much of your time . An Employer that paid this sort of salary would be your main priority to safeguard your future . I find it completely mind blowing that Boris Johnson describes this income as Chicken Feed .
The job as Mayor for London is a full on job , that is so important with enormous responsibilities that effects peoples lives every day . With such a job as this , I cannot see how someone could carry out their responsibilities and duties to the best of their ability when holding down another job , in fact I would say it was impossible . I feel that the present Mayor for London Boris Johnson’s position on this matter alone is untenable .
From the beginning of Boris Johnson’s Mayoralty to this day there has been problem after problem with resignations left right and centre , I myself can see that The Leadership as Mayor for London under Boris Johnson is now starting to look Dangerously Dilirious and Deluded .
I believe that The Mayor for London Boris Johnson should consider his position with the view to handing in his resignation , if not , The GLA / London Assembly should hold a vote to decide . What ever the case things cannot carry on the way they are .
Nick says
July 16, 2009 at 9:34 pmIf 250 k is ‘chickenfeed’ then i must be on a life-support machine being fed intravenously
TawkinSenz says
July 22, 2009 at 1:03 pmThis is simply evidence of how the old boy network operates and how it ensures the people who make the decisions that affect us all are the most corrupt and useless around. Boris doesn’t get paid this money because he’s a good columnist, nor a particuarly good writer. The last time I read this column I concluded that people who read the Telegraph must be as daft as Boris is. It’s simply his name the Telegraph are paying for – however I’m sure they could get just the same response if they asked Michael Jacksons chimp Bubbles to put his name to the column.
It’s not just Boris, look at the highly paid bankers who messed up, or the highly paid politicians who couldn’t resist skimming the public for money. We pay highly for failures and it has to stop.
I used to think I was well paid, but now I can see that I am not if a simpleton is able to command such a salary for what is a column of drivel – I hope everyone who reads this piece will now truly understand the gulf between rich and poor.
More importantly – what is Boris actually achieving as Mayor? Can anyone list his achievements since he’s been in office (leaving out the ones he carried from the previous administration).
His biggest fanfare (freezing tube prices and council tax) – may be under threat due to the recession and the cost of the Olympics, leaving the morsels of achievement thread bare.
Meli says
July 23, 2009 at 1:32 pmI do agree with the previous comments and would like to add that Boris Johnson does not need a second income to make donations to charity. If he thinks his mayor’s salary (and probably quite a few fringe benefits!) is insufficient to give money to charity, I suggest he reduce his expenses.