Sunny Kundal reports that Kulveer Ranger (aged 31! blimey, that’s three years younger than me) has been appointed Director for Transport Policy. Sunny thinks highly of him and his background looks sound to me, involvement in Oyster and the Kings Cross redevelopment means he’s got a track record in two of the most important transport improvement projects in the capital. However, I did notice this remark from Mr. Ranger reported last year:
The aristocratic tinge to his heritage, the Bullingdon Club photo and even the Notting Hill lifestyle have served to reinforce all the old brand associations of a Conservative toff - albeit a modern day toff. This is his Achilles heel.
OK, he was talking about David Cameron there, but does it remind you of anyone else?
Incidentally, for a laugh, take a look here’s at some pictures from Iain Dale’s Little Red Book party in 2006. I’m certain the chap grinning in the bottom right hand photo is Kulveer Ranger. The short gentleman behind the pint of Guinness is Paul ‘Guido Fawkes’ Staines, who will need some advice on London’s transport system fairly soon, I think. I’m second from right in the top-middle picture, incidentally. Hello, fans.
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Slightly unrelated but here goes.
Today Mr Johnson announced he had secured a deal with First Great Western to allow pay as you go (payg) on all its stations in the capital from September.
I thought this might be the first of his attempts to get the credit for something that was already in the pipeline, and what a surprise, he seems to be doing just that.
But worse, it seems to be a four-month delay in implementation.
http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/2008/04/oyster-payg-on-first-great-western.html
On top of this they have been accepting payg at Greenford, Ealing since 20th April 2008
http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/2008/05/first-great-western-oyster-payg.html
I’m sure there will be more of this type of nonsense.
Yup, that’s him. It’s ‘H’ by the way, not ‘K’ in my surname.
So it is, total typo, my apologies to you, Bunny.
pastyface - see next article, I’ve spent all evening writing it and didn’t see your comment until I’d finished it
I’m sure that the incredibly young Mr. Ranger has excellent skills for the job, but one important qualification seems to be that he is vice-chairman and rising star in the Conservative Party.
This is just the kind of political appointment for which Ken was attacked. So anyone who hoped for anything different from Boris - only from the other direction, obviously - is in for a rude shock.
Well, quite. He’s also got Parliamentary ambitions, having stood for the Tories in about the world’s safest Labour seat in 2005, which is the kind of groundwork you do to ensure fortune smiles on your when the safe seats are divvied up five or ten years from now. Canny.
It also occurred to me reading Dave Hill’s take on this that Mr. Ranger can’t have been that old when Oyster started (early-mid 20s, since the first cards went out in 2002 when he was 25) and we haven’t got much independent verification of what he actually *did* there, but at that age it can’t have been anything too senior, however bright he is. I’d like to know more on that, really.