Mayor of London has defied critics from across political spectrum who were convinced he would make hash of tenure
Boris Johnson may deny that his long-term ambitions still lie upstream in Westminster, but few in City Hall believe him. The three years of his first mayoral term has only served to strengthen his hand by defying critics from across the political spectrum who were convinced that the gaffe-prone Johnson would make a hash of it.
Darren Johnson, a Green party assembly member, is one of many to have formed the impression that Johnson took the London challenge because he wanted to prove his mettle by leading something – an aim he has broadly achieved. "He has demonstrated it is not total chaos, so long as he has a good team behind him," he says. But the Tory mayor does not strike him as someone who is truly inspired by local government. "I think he has a vision for Britain and the world with his traditional Conservative libertarian agenda, but when it comes to London and the day-to-day running of London governance he has not really had that vision."
Yet many across the political divide attribute the smooth running of Johnson's administration after a turbulent first few months in power to the arrival of Sir Simon Milton, a former leader of Westminster council, who came in as his deputy mayor but died last month.
One City Hall source said Milton was seen as "the real mayor" who dealt with the day-to-day issues and made the decisions, while Boris Johnson attended events and gave speeches.
Tony Travers, director of the Greater London group at the London School of Economics, says delegation is a natural part of mayoralties elsewhere. And while a mayor does need to have an eye to the cogs, wheels and pullers in his administration, leaders in Westminster can rely to a large extent on the civil service machinery of Whitehall. "In the office of mayor you have to have, on the one hand, somebody who is seen as a visible leader, but also somebody to understand the business of government to make the machine function. Boris is much stronger on the first part than the latter. But it is not unlike what appears to be Cameron's style at the centre."
What Johnson has achieved is to prove to his detractors that he is capable. "As mayor, he has shown himself to be a Conservative centrist and the fact that he doesn't want to be master of executive detail has not been a disaster in any sense of the word," says Travers.
Andrew Boff, a Tory assembly member, is also pleased with Johnson's performance overall, despite some policy differences, but adds: "I don't think he would get far in a contest for any future leadership in the Conservative party because Boris is very much his own man. Every single leader of every single party makes compromises on their own views. I'm not entirely sure that's Boris's strong suit."
One thing is for certain. If, as many believe, Johnson is aiming for the Tory leadership when Cameron eventually steps down or is pushed out, his CV will boast leadership experience that was missing for Cameron and Tony Blair when they took the helm of their parties.
Hélène Mulholland