With four minutes to go, Boris Johnson ran in. I was already concerned – maybe more concerned than Boris. It was an awards ceremony at the Hilton, Park Lane. The room was packed with financial people in bow ties. It was a couple of years before Johnson became Mayor of London. At this point he was a backbench Conservative MP and newspaper columnist. Right now he was due to make a funny speech.
In four minutes.
There I was, at 9.26pm, sitting with a table-load of London bankers, trying to answer their questions. ‘Will Boris actually arrive?’ ‘Is he normally this late?’ ‘Has he got lost?’
I answered them all as best I could:
(a) I’m sorry
(b) I don’t know
(c) I don’t see Boris Johnson that often
You see, I explained, I am only here to hand out the awards for… (I consulted the sign at the back of the stage)… ‘for International Securitisation,’ and Boris is making the after-dinner speech.
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