The Boris factor

Boris Johnson’s victory in London is a remarkable achievement. He has won re-election in a Labour-inclined city against the backdrop of a Tory-led government making cuts and a country in recession. He has defied the national trend and, indeed, the trend in the capital itself given the results in the assembly elections. This triumph proves his vote-winning credentials in a way that his victory four years ago, secured in very favourable circumstances (Labour was in a poor state as Gordon Brown stumbled from disaster to disaster), did not.

In Downing Street, there’s relief that Boris made it over the line; a Labour victory in London would have made this undeniably Ed Miliband’s night. But Boris will now be a force in the land. He represents a distinct brand of vote-winning Conservatism. It’ll be intriguing to see how he uses his new found status: will he use it to push for lower-taxes and Euroscepiticism, or will he stick to London and the Olympics for the next few months at least?

What I’m certain of is that this is not the last election that Boris will fight.