News from the New Party

Has Boris got news for London?

The ongoing quest to find a candidate fit and able to take on (and maybe even defeat) Ken Livingstone in next year's London Mayoral election has taken a new turn.  According to the BBC, Tory blond bombshell and legendary erstwhile host of Have I Got News For You, Boris Johnson MP, is the latest name in the frame.  Furthermore it appears that the great man is not necessarily averse to the idea of joining the fray.

Granted that Boris has a novel approach to motivating the citizenry of our major cities (ask the people of Liverpool and Portsmouth), Boris would certainly be a brave, but nevertheless interesting choice.  This would be a chance for him to demonstrate that he can do a serious political job, and moreover do it with good humour, decency, and maybe even with a kind of dishevelled dignity.  We cannot imagine Mayor Johnson entertaining Hugo Chavez or engaging in anti-semitic banter with Evening Standard journalists, which is not to say that he might not provide plenty of entertainment in other ways.

The question remains, however, whether this is really a good way to run our capital city, or indeed any other city.  Britain is not America.  We have no tradition of elected executive officials.  Do we really want our elections decided on the basis of celebrity or the quality of the candidates' jokes?  The urgent need in local government (and even the Mayor of London is effectively a local government post) is for men and women of integrity and administrative competence.  We don't need TV personalities as our local government representatives any more than we require them to have an interest in or experience of foreign affairs.

It may be time to look at other ways to govern London.