Vote Ken

I'm by no means a stranger to London so I hope readers won't mind me giving a quick tuppence on the Mayoral elections today.

If Boris wins, it will be the most ludicrous result since Hartlepool elected a monkey as Mayor. At least there, the monkey had some connection with the town and had one fairly decent policy of giving out free bananas to schoolchildren.

Boris has been thrust into this because the Tories have no chance on winning this on ideas, and have gone for affability instead.

It is however obvious that it's only the rapidly declining part of the population he's not offended that see him like that though. London is genuinely diverse, and the ethnic mix works well. This does not happen by accident though. There could be flashpoints and times of crisis in the future, and the mayor has to be someone that can unite. As Johann Hari points out, we would only need to look at the riots in Paris to see the potential harm that inflammatory statements can cause.

But even more than that, surely you have to go with the person who has concrete ideas every time.

Comments

[Sunny]

Well, I don't necessarily buy the Paris analogy... Boris has changed his rhetoric a lot and told us how he can out-ethnic brown people!
I don't want him to win, but he most probably will.

[aineliva]

Saturday am: well it looks like we are saddled with a classically educated, bicycle-riding, ex-Eton mayor. Lord have mercy on us.

Gob-smacked that a majority seem to have voted for "affability" over experienced, serious politican.

More than ludicrous, Osama, it is a seriously worrying situation. The balance you speak of also applies in that London is a city where the divide between rich and poor is enormous, more than was visible in the past. What I fear is that Boris will exacerbate that situation.

Off to read Johann, thanks for link.