Boris Watch

The London Development Agency is looking for a new Chief Executive. They dangle a ‘significant six figure salary‘ in front of prospective applicants and demand ‘truly exceptional leadership credentials gained in a complex, dynamic environment‘.
The Times, however, claims that the Agency will in fact seek ‘an entire new board when the members’ four-year term expires [...]

From this afternoon’s LBC 97.3 programme, during a discussion about their common enemy, the right-wing press, between Ken Livingstone and his guest, Alistair Campbell:
Ken: It’s quite interesting at the moment, since Boris Johnson became Mayor, there’s been a real flurry of blogs, on the internet, and in actual fact, they’re doing a much better job [...]

He’s certainly keeping a close eye on Boris’s actions. Here’s today’s cartoon from the back of G2 (excuse it being a low-quality photo: the Guardian haven’t updated Steve Bell’s page since 4 June, and my scanner’s not working):
 
Boris’s withdrawal of London from Mayors for Peace wasn’t very widely reported as far as I’m aware, so [...]

Ken Livingstone has just started his stint on LBC 97.3. He’s on from 1-4pm each day this week. Apparently Boris has turned down his invitation to appear as a guest.
Ken’s also been appealing for Andrew Gilligan to come on the show, “if you’re listening, as I imagine you are given that you’re so completely obsessed [...]

Croydon Tramlink is officially part of TfL London Rail, having been bought out from its private PFI contractors Tramtrack to save money and remove an stupid inflexible contract (obviously a late-Ken era decision rather than a Boris Damascene conversion).  However, it’s brave of Boris to welcome what is effectively a rejection of the Conservative Party [...]

Back before I went on holiday, the Mayor’s comment on big TfL news stories was written thus:
As well as significantly cutting carbon dioxide emissions, we’re looking for taxis that are quieter and produce fewer air pollutants, which will be good news for anyone who spends time in London.
‘Taxi drivers should be particularly pleased - they’re [...]

*returns from two weeks without the internet*
*opens RSS reader*
*reads*
*reads on*
*eyes widen*
*reads further on*
Well, I guess that’s the honeymoon over, then.
Later - another attempt to guess whether the Venezuela deal was a net contributor to TfL coffers, worrying news about the crucial ELLX Phase 2 project and there are some TfL Board minutes to go through.  [...]

The Sunday Star Times carry an interesting article on the methods of the PR guides to Boris’s electoral campaign, Crosby/Textor:
“In the 2008 London mayoralty race, Crosby was campaign manager while Textor managed the research. The Conservative candidate, Boris Johnson, was energetic, prone to eccentric outbursts and relatively inexperienced. Crosby/Textor decided that the 2005 Conservative campaign’s [...]

Jim, in the comments, directs us towards more enthusiastic speculation from Simon Milton. Boris’s senior planning adviser seems keen to scrap council housing for the homeless in favour of tenancy in privately rented homes.
‘When somebody is accepted as homeless we would all agree that they should have a decent roof over their heads,’ he [...]

A rumour (which I heard from Zohra of the F-Word blog – thanks – but have not yet found any official confirmation or denial) has been circulating that the previous Mayor’s long-established annual Capital Woman event will face the chop under Mayor Boris.
The web site describes the event thus:
Every year, capitalwoman brings London women of [...]