Too busy to catch up on today’s press conference except via others. Sorry.
First, Dave Hill:
…hardened City Hall hacks remain unhappy. The gathering was wound up after just half an hour and there’s only going to be one of them per month. Livingstone held a press conference every Tuesday and let it run on until the questions had run out. Johnson promised greater accountability, but by the end of today’s proceedings there was much muttering that this was a strange way of providing it.
Then the Tory Troll:
Gone too we were told, were the weekly press conferences that were held by the last Mayor, and gone too were the open-ended sessions that had gone with them. And with Guto by the side, there was to be a strict thirty minute rule.
He would, he promised be “as open as possible” but did not want, he said to “impose on our time.” Any dangers of him outstaying his welcome seemed increasingly slim though, and as the clock hit the half hour point, he was quickly swept out of the room.
Oh dear. Still, they’re lefty whinging Ken lovers, so let’s see what the Tory press say.
From the Times:
Mr Johnson promised action on various plans, including his pledge to phase out bendy buses and a promise to negotiate a no-strike deal with transport workers, although he did not give any details.While his predecessor Ken Livingstone held weekly press conferences, Mr Johnson will face the media once a month. He came under fire from reporters over the lack of access to him. He said that he would be as accessible as possible “without driving you all nuts”. He implored journalists to stop calling his mobile phone because he kept giving accidental interviews “which get me into trouble”.
Oh dear. More on the bendy buses later, but it does seem that having been kept away from the press during the campaign he’s now being kept away from the press as Mayor, and that’s frankly not on, particularly in comparison with his predecessor and given the campaign pledges on openness and accountability. As for turning up out and about and talking to people, he’s got some way to go with me - his proposed appearance in Chiswick during the campaign was cancelled and never rescheduled.
Finally, politics.co.uk:
Perhaps worst of all, Mr Johnson irritated the assembled journalists. His predecessor held weekly press conferences but, after much prevarication, Mr Johnson explained he had no plans to repeat them. “Let’s see how it works out,” he pleaded, to mutterings of discontent. Upsetting journalists is a salutary lesson the new mayor should learn from poor Ken.Such moves to stand alone might appear more convincing if Mr Johnson were presenting a clear agenda for change in the city. As it is, he appears to lack an overall vision for London.
My opinion? I’ll have to find a transcript from somewhere first, but if the reports of blather about Henley and Latin and Greek in schools are right, I’ll be seething. It’s one thing reducing the amount of questions you’re asked, but another to waste them on trivial matters unconnected to your Mayoral duties.
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[...] already provided a run-down on the web coverage of today’s Mayoral press conference, but I was delighted to see that even the mainstream TV media are making their unimpressed feelings [...]
Headline of the year: “Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, says to teach classics to cut knife crime”.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/boris_johnson/2075126/Boris-Johnson,-Mayor-of-London,-says-to-teach-classics-to-cut-knife-crime.html
Dave has a link to the speech. I’m not sure whether Boris digressed upon his high cultural theories, as the papers may have just selected the choicest quote. I’ll listen to it tomorrow, when I’ll hopefully feel a little more human.
http://davehill.typepad.com/london3ms/2008/06/boris-johnsons.html