Boris johnson

As backbenchers apparently gang up on Maria Miller, she’s seen Conservative and Lib Dem colleagues trying to defend her – and dampen down Esther McVey’s comments – on the airwaves this morning. Boris Johnson told the Today programme that he felt Miller was being hounded (although he didn’t give a view on whether she should go): ‘I don’t know the facts of the case in great detail, but it seems to me she is being hounded quite a lot and my natural sympathies go out to people in hounded situations – how about that. I feel, there she is, she’s being hounded, I think what you need is [to] sort

Everyone can see that the West has no idea what to do about Russian power in the Ukraine. Britain, in particular, is at the margins. It is time for the Mayor of London to fulfil his historic role of stealing a march on more conventional politicians. Boris should take a leaf out of President Putin’s book and call a referendum of Londoners. He should ask them whether they would like all Russian housing in London to be seized, and be inhabited, instead, by British families. I predict a Yes vote whose percentage would exceed even that of the recent Crimean plebiscite. Obviously the Mayor, unlike Putin, has no military forces

I’m not sure how many winnable Tory seats still need a candidate, but the Prime Minister has invited the Mayor of London to get in the ring. Here’s what he said in an interview with James Corden, who was guest editing The Sun for Sport Relief: Corden: If you are in a room together, like even if you are at the Olympic stadium and he [Boris] is sat the other side of the stadium… Cameron: …he still makes me laugh… Corden: …and you are sat the other side can you feel his eyes piercing at you going… Ghaaaaaaar – I want your job!?! Cameron: That is brilliant. No. It wouldn’t be a great

The continued speculation about who in the Conservative party is putting the most effort into preparing their leadership hat to throw into the currently non-existent ring is quite amusing. But it also means that those involved will struggle to have such a moral high ground when they need to lecture backbench colleagues for getting overexcited about potty-sounding leadership challenges after the European elections. Boris and George Osborne may be engaged in a strange fight about who is gaining the most currency with backbenchers so that they’re in the best possible position post-Cameron, while backbench unrest will be focused on Cameron’s own position. But the problem with this hysteria, where the

Today we glimpsed what Boris Johnson might do if he had more power, in London at least: jack up council taxes for some and lower business rates. In a Communities and Local Government select committee hearing on fiscal devolution, the Mayor of London outlined why, if the power was handed down from central government, he’d  increase council tax for the richest Londoners: ‘If you compared with a Russian oligarch is paying on his stuccoed schloss in Kensington in annual council tax compared to what such a gentleman might be asked to pay in Paris or New York or anywhere else, it is quite stunning the difference. No one has yet

What are Boris Johnson’s real chances of becoming Tory leader? I examine the Mayor of London’s standing with Conservative MPs in my Telegraph column today – and it is fascinating how polarised opinion is about the Mayor in the Tory party. His supporters insist he is the only hope for the Conservative party, while those who don’t want him to lead really, really don’t want him to lead and display a fair bit of personal hatred when talking about the Mayor. But the problem that those in the anti-Boris camp have is that they can’t see who else from the current group of well-known leadership hopefuls would enjoy the same

Boris Johnson spoke to the 301 group of largely pro-Cameron Tory MPs last night. The meeting was open to all, but I hear that around 48 MPs turned up in the end. One MP present mutters that ‘it wasn’t a huge turnout. The all-party parliamentary beer group attracts more attendees’. Naturally, Boris was late. My sources tell me that Boris spoke about his achievements as London mayor, including the number of French citizens who have moved to london, crime statistics, air quality, Crossrail, driverless trains, jobs and affordable housing. But he also made the case for London as a powerhouse for the rest of the country, saying that ‘what’s good

A tax-cutting budget to support growth — that’s the central, very Conservative message of Boris Johnson’s 2014-15 budget for London. At Mayor’s Question Time today, he bombarded members with all the positive things to have come out of his mayoralty. Unemployment down by 18,000, employment up by 54,000, bus crime down 40 per cent, Crossrail still on time and on budget while the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station and the Northern line expansion are on track. Boris has decided to keep his voters happy with a tax cut. Despite ever decreasing government grants, it’s the second consecutive year he’s cut City Hall’s share of council tax — the Mayor claims

The open primary to choose the 2016 Labour candidate for London Mayor is a dot on horizon; but speculation is underway. Mr Steerpike has been reading the form. Tessa Jowell, the former Olympics minister and outgoing MP for Dulwich, had a busy festive period: turning on the waterworks and displaying signs of Tourettes in this Guardian interview. Here is what she said in response to a question about those pressmen who say that her estrangement from her husband David Mills during his run-in with the Italian courts was manufactured: ‘Frankly, you know, those arseholes are so fucking rancid that I just hope every morning they wake up and think: ‘I’m

George Osborne’s speech on the need for £25 billion more cuts has opened up some strange dividing lines in Westminster. Labour has done exactly what the Chancellor wanted and questioned the need for the cuts. Nick Clegg has also fallen into place as Osborne hoped and moaned about them being unfair. But Clegg has found an unlikely ally in Iain Duncan Smith, who has let it be known that he does not much like the idea that Osborne could cut a further £1 billion from the welfare bill. So who did Boris Johnson cosy up to this morning when he had his say? Well, the Mayor was certainly keen to