Boris Johnson considered for London mayor

Ramrod · 04-07-2007, 21:22

Quote:

The Conservatives have been looking for someone to take on Ken Livingstone, who has held the post since 2000.
Mr Johnson, MP for Henley in Oxfordshire, said it was hard to see how he could do both jobs, but he was ruling nothing out

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Brilliant! I'd vote for him

Shaun · 04-07-2007, 21:25

My goodness - um, erm, well.

We're all doomed!

Ramrod · 04-07-2007, 21:35

Rather Boris than Ken!

Shaun · 04-07-2007, 21:35

Not wrong with Ken, or his newts.

Xaccers · 04-07-2007, 21:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaun

Not wrong with Ken, or his newts.

That's no way to talk about the Labour party

Paul K · 04-07-2007, 22:00

So we have a choice of someone who seems to have no grasp on reallity and someone who seems to have no grasp on reallity..... Good to see the Conservatives putting up a strong candidate..... not.

05-07-2007, 03:12

Boris for mayor classic but then i don't live in london but it would sure be worth it for the humour value

.

skyblueheroes · 05-07-2007, 07:07

Boris would be great ! And even if not, I don't live there anyway !!

BBKing · 05-07-2007, 08:35

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So we have a choice of someone who seems to have no grasp on reallity and someone who seems to have no grasp on reallity

Boris and the UKIP candidate, presumably. Boris is a lovely fellow and all that, partly because when he screws up, he owns up like a gentleman, but he has plenty of practice, and I'm not sure a man with no experience of actually running anything more complicated than a conservative magazine (he's always been in opposition as a politician) is necessarily better than the man who's spent his life in London politics. The Tories are clearly having trouble finding a London man suitable for the job - personally I think David Davis would be a fine candidate for them, but as one of the few non-Etonians in the Cabinet his talents are needed there.

Ken may be many things, but a man divorced from reality wouldn't have got the congestion charge working, improved the bus network so much and told the greedy private contractors Gordon Brown foisted on the tube to get stuffed when they came round with the begging bowl. He's also, of course, anti-Iraq War, which makes him the mainstream candidate these days.

Incidentally, London bus fares are going down 10% this year, to 90p a journey.

andygrif · 05-07-2007, 09:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by BBKing

Incidentally, London bus fares are going down 10% this year, to 90p a journey.

Yes, but hang on a second...

Cash Tube fares for a single Zone 1 journey went up by 33% in January this year, and bus fares did the same - which forces people who don't necessarily need an Oyster Card (like visitors to the Capital) to pay a massive amount more.

Stuart · 05-07-2007, 09:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by BBKing

Ken may be many things, but a man divorced from reality wouldn't have got the congestion charge working, improved the bus network so much and told the greedy private contractors Gordon Brown foisted on the tube to get stuffed when they came round with the begging bowl. He's also, of course, anti-Iraq War, which makes him the mainstream candidate these days.

That's part of the problem. Ken's solution to traffic problems has been to buy more buses. All very well and good, but all it's achieved in my area is to ensure that the traffic jams have a greater percentage of buses in them. It hasn't actually improved the reliability or punctuality of those buses. Indeed, on at least one route, it has got noticably worse.

Quote:

Incidentally, London bus fares are going down 10% this year, to 90p a journey.

What were they when Ken came in? 70p cash IIRC. The oyster card is all well and good (I have my travel card on one, much more convienant than paper tickets), but what is the minimum you can put on it? I bet it's more than 90p. So, you end up wasting money if you don't use public transport often.

Xaccers · 05-07-2007, 10:52

And of course Ken does love those pesky terrorists in the middle east, well, the ones that blow up Israeli women and children anyway.
I hear he's running for Mr Anti-semetic 2007.

Shaun · 05-07-2007, 21:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by andygrif

Yes, but hang on a second...

Cash Tube fares for a single Zone 1 journey went up by 33% in January this year, and bus fares did the same - which forces people who don't necessarily need an Oyster Card (like visitors to the Capital) to pay a massive amount more.

They're free now so I don't ahve an issue living in Leicester but having a n Oyster card in my wallet for travel in London

alferret · 05-07-2007, 21:44

Boris for mayor, bloody hell Boris for president

He would get my vote

Paul K · 06-07-2007, 07:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart C

What were they when Ken came in? 70p cash IIRC. The oyster card is all well and good (I have my travel card on one, much more convienant than paper tickets), but what is the minimum you can put on it? I bet it's more than 90p. So, you end up wasting money if you don't use public transport often.

Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£5 is the minimum I believe if you do it online, not sure what the minimum is if you do it via a shop outlet.