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The Boris dilemma

The mayor of London is poised to win a second term, and many reckon his goal is Number 10. But is it really? And would people take him seriously?

By James Macintyre  
September 21, 2011
October 2011

Ball in his court: Johnson squares up to his old rival David Cameron in Trafalgar Square for International Paralympic Day, 8th September

“This job is the most engrossing I’ve had,” Boris Johnson told me in early September. London’s mayor acknowledged that it took “a year or so” for him to appreciate the role, after beating Ken Livingstone in 2008. As mayor of the capital, directly elected (unlike the prime minister or cabinet members) by nearly 1.2m people, Johnson has the biggest mandate of any politician in the country. Recent polls show he is set to be re-elected with a comfortable…

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James Macintyre

James Macintyre is Prospect's former politics editor

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