Boris says awesome things...

Hazel Blears hasn’t half come out fighting over the resignation of Ray Lewis.
“People across the country,” she says, tremulous with excitement at the first non-Labour political downer for months, “will note that after just two months, the new Tory administration in London is in complete disarray. David Cameron has known Ray Lewis since his first day as Tory leader and Boris Johnson appointed him as deputy mayor days into the job.
People will ask themselves: how have they allowed themselves to be embroiled in a mess like this?”
Bless her, and her whiter-than-white cotton socks. People across the country, you say? I doubt many outside London give the foggiest. Disarray, you say? She’s spent months saying that Labour aren’t in disarray despite their myriad problems, and now proclaims the entire Boris administration is in tatters.
The truth is that Labour are plainly happy for the spotlight to be on someone else for the first time in months. They also seems to have forgotten that their defeated candidate, Ken Livingstone, rates Ray Lewis as “imaginative” and regrets not poaching him…

My good friend (and Ken supporter) Mark K was the first to gleefully break it to me this evening by text - Ray Lewis, the originally lauded Deputy Mayor and the man due to spearhead Boris’s campaign against youth crime, has resigned amid allegations of financial irregularities.
If this had happened to Ken then Boriswatch would, frankly, be all over it with bells on. The allegations are serious, no doubt. Ray Lewis, to his credit, has flatly denied the whole thing in the strongest terms.
However, there’s something strange about this whole affair.
Firstly, it seems that mere allegations can warrant you fully guilty before you’ve even managed to form a defence. What if he is found entirely innocent? Will the media move on, Boris’s opposers rubbing their hands in glee while a reputation is ruined?
Secondly, there’s something very fishy about the coordination of these attacks. The BBC report that 3 allegations of financial impropriety have been handed in to them. This first started Boriswatch’s hairs twitching. Who handed them in? How come all these people have collectively remembered these things now, even though the allegations stretch back to the mid-90s?
There’s no doubt that this is some serious bother for our favourite London Mayor. Let’s hope the regrouping is swift, and the team can get back to helping London improve - something those political dark forces don’t currently seem too concerned with…

Here are some interesting Boris-related links found in the last 24 hours:

• Boris Johnson pledges crackdown on London's illegal taxi touts - Boriswatch has NEVER hailed an illegal taxi. NEVER. Ahem.
• Cycling Mayor Boris 'at risk of terror attack' - Terrible news that Boris may be a sitting target on his bike.
• Wembley and Kingsbury Times - Mayor Boris exclusive interview - Boris gives his first local audio interview since winning as Mayor.
• Boris Johnson: All tanked up and ready to go | Mail Online - GQ's Dylan Jones on Boris's tenure as Motoring Correspondent, and visions of Boris in tank. In London.
• Dave Hill: Can Boris Johnson actually deliver for London? - Dave is not Boris's greatest fan. This article does nothing to dispel that view…

Boris has been keeping his head down and getting stuck into the Mayoral job. He has announced his intention to step down from his Henley constituency, giving a nostalgic video interview to the Henley Standard about how much he’s loved the place, and also a final goodbye.
Although he’s become Serious Boris, journalists have noted that his mischievous side is coming back, which is great news for Boriswatchers everywhere! In fact, his speeches are still going down a storm, with a report from the CBI conference, Everyone Loves Boris, being a good indicator of the affection people have for him. The Telegraph has started to publish Boris columns again (although I imagine these will be less controversial than in the past), and they are also serialising Anthony Gimley’s unofficial biography of him. This week’s portion of the book is actually a brand new chapter, devoted to the latest Mayor success. It asks a question we are all starting to whisper: Boris Johnson for Prime Minister? Can you IMAGINE?!

Back in May Boriswatch speculated about the existence of Ken’s secret whisky stash. Well it appears the Whisky went when Ken cleared out his desk, however it seems someone left behind a stash of fine French plonk.

Boris revealed the juicy details to the Daily Telegraph whilst annoucing the return of his much loved weekly (well we all hope weekly) comment column.

Boris has answered the growing question of when or even if he would relinquish his seat at Henley. He has written a letter to the local newspaper saying goodbye to the constituents.
Here is the text:

Dear all, — When I set out on my mission to unseat Ken Livingstone more than nine months ago, there were all kinds of risks.
There was a considerable risk that I would be thrashed by the Great Newt.
And then there was a risk that I would win ­— and therefore lose Henley, just about the loveliest seat in the House of Commons.
At the time, I have to admit, it seemed a pretty small risk. London has 74 parliamentary seats, of which only 19 are in Conservative hands.
Were the people of London really going to go for a Conservative mayor?
Well, they have. I am writing this from ex-Mayor Livingstone’s eyrie in City Hall, and it is time for Henley to find itself a new MP.
It will be a huge wrench for me. I want to thank you all for putting up with me for what has been the seven happiest and most productive years of my professional life.
I think we got some good things done. We have removed the threat to Townlands, the Chilterns Resource Centre is thriving. I can think of at least one local pub that might have gone under had it not been for our campaign.
Even in South Oxfordshire there are people who are in desperate need and who find it difficult to cope with the cost of housing. It was a privilege to help.
Above all, I really did enjoy my surgery. In about 25 per cent of cases I found that we really could make a difference to someone’s life — and sometimes a very big difference. I think that was pretty good going.
In fact, the more I think of it, the more jealous I am of the brilliant new MP you will shortly discover. He or she will inherit the second most heavily wooded constituency in England (fact) and far and away the most attractive.
He or she will represent a town with the second oldest theatre outside London, a distinguished museum, a book festival, and the world’s most glorious annual celebration of pointless aquatic exertion!
He or she will also have the joy of some of the nicest and kindest constituents you could hope to meet — as well as some of the most eccentric. So thanks for having me, folks.
And especial thanks to those doughty few who came to campaign in London over the last few weeks — no doubt at least partly motivated by the hope of getting rid of me!

With best wishes,

BORIS

In a letter to the Henley Standard Boris thanks his constituents for putting up with him and lets on how much he will miss his surgeries.

Rumour has it Bozza’s Dad Stanley is after the job!

Boriswatch first settled itself down on a cold winter’s day in December 2003. It’s been riding a crest of Boris-based fervour ever since, and I’ve been very proud of its achievements, many of which I’ve detailed before. In the last 7 days, Boriswatch has had 70,000 hits, and that’s something of a record.

But, suddenly, there are new kids on the block. As soon as Boris won the mayorship, all sorts of sites have popped up purporting to be Watching Boris. In an effort to spread the love, here are a few that I’ve found. Of course, I need hardly point out that Boriswatch is the original… and dare I say the best?!

1. Evening Standard: Mayor. Now being linked to internally on their site as BorisWatch, this is as comprehensive as you will get on Mayor Boris’s rise. Although there’s so much stuff to look at it’s hard to pick out the truly newsworthy from the merely perfunctory…

2. Boriswatch.co.uk. Yes, I’m kicking myself. If I was any sort of webmaster I’d have bought Boriswatch.co.uk long ago and stopped the new owner attempting to take over the webwaves. “An attempt,” it says, “to enhance the accountability of the new London mayoralty.” Admirable task - shame about the name!

3. Boriswatchers. This, my friends, is as far away from friendly as you can get. Every post has a negative vibe, and the Labourhome t-shirt on the right hand side seals the deal - this is not so much watching Boris as rampantly opposing Boris. 1.2 million Londoners can’t be wrong, now, can they?

4. Bozzawatch. With all the possible combinations of “boris” and “watch” now taken, Bozzawatch dug deep - and used his nickname instead. This site seems more balanced - although the slightly dodgy “favourite sites” keeps me slightly suspicious as to the motives.

5. We’re Watching You Boris So Don’t Screw This Up. A hell of a title, but this site is plainly in its infancy. Still, I’m sure they’ll be more…

Now that Boris is top of the political agenda for journalists of all persuasions, Boriswatch takes a look at what the broadsheets are saying about the new Mayor of London.

Tory paper, the Sunday Telegraph, disscusses (predictably) the wider implications of Boris taking London in terms of national politics. The article quote Boris hinting that tackling crime on public transport will be his number one priority. Bozza’s exact words were “I’ve been elected on a clear manifesto to clear up crime, particularly on the places for which the Mayor is directly responsible, on public transport.” Plans apparently include stopping people drinking cans of Stella (and I’m a regular offender here - so I’ll stop doing it immediately Boris - I promise) on the Underground and putting PCSO’s on tubes.

In the Labour-leaning Obersver, Jo Revill, talks of Bozza’s first 100 days as being a “baptism of fire” and speculates that Boris is consulting Bob Diamond, of Barclays Capital, to head up a new ‘Mayor’s Fund for London’ to spend on community projects. Watch those bankers now Boris, don’t let them palm off any of those dodgy American mortgages on you!

Simon Jenkins devotes his Sunday Times column to matters Boris, pointing out that Blair made the job ‘Livingstone-proof’ - keeping central government control over a number of areas that are of interest to Londoners and the incoming Mayor. Will Jacqui Smith clash with Bozza over his plans to tackle crime in London? Police throughout the UK work in accordance with Home Office policy such as the National Intelligence Model. Boris will need to get Police Chiefs on side if he is to make the Met prioritize on the delivery of his manifesto pledges. Will he have what it takes?

Finally, John Rentoul of the Independent on Sunday, takes a slightly comical look at what a defeated David Cameron might be saying in 2012. “It was all Boris’s fault” he quotes an imaginary Dave C as saying to his missus. It’s all a bit of a wet dream if you ask me, but amusing all the same.

Happy Boriswatching!

We’ve unveiled a new set of t-shirts in the BorisShop, emblazoned with the sheer jollity of Mayor Boris’s arrival. With quotes such as “Bye Bye Ken”, “I Voted Boris”, “Welcome to Borisland and “Next Stop PM”, these t-shirts show you’re proud of the new Mayor!
Click here for the BorisShop (or see the link on the sidebar).