The Spectator’s notes | 5 April 2008

If Boris Johnson wins the contest to become Mayor of London on 1 May, he will not inherit an impartial civil service of the sort to which British national politicians are accustomed. There has only been one Mayor of London so far and he, Ken Livingstone, has made sure that London officials reflect his views. So if Boris wins, he will immediately be confronted by the politically motivated hostility of the bureaucracy. It is good to know that he promises to deal with this, less good to hear that he proposes to keep on leading figures like the commissioner of Transport for London, Peter Hendy. The left-wing Mr Hendy is the author of the unloved ‘bendy’ buses, and fires off splenetic letters if anyone dares to criticise the abolition of the much-loved Routemaster. In one of these, he made clear his politics by attacking the Conservatives over transport and praising the ‘progressive Mayor’ (Ken).