Saturday 3 May 2008

A NEW MAYOR OF LONDON

At last, a colourful personality in politics. I was told to watch Boris by my Swiss neighbour last summer. He was her MP in Henley and she said he is one smart cookie, not at all the buffoon that he likes to portray. I think we will be treated to a few gloriously eccentric years with him and, who knows, he may even turn out to be one hell of a Mayor. At the very least I suspect he will be remembered. But there again, I may be wrong.

As you would expect from such an exhubertant personality he has confessed to having a "past" and probably still has a "present". The opposition spin doctors and media will now get to work at trashing him. Will he survive? I think so. I hope so.

Whilst on the subject of Mayors did you know that three Lord Mayors of London (a civic as opposed to political post) came from this little village? Not a lot of people know that. OG thinks that it might be because in the middle ages King's courtiers would fall out of favour and be banished to the country. Some came to Lincolnshire. In fact the ship carrying King John's gold is reputed to have sunk in the Wash on the way to our little market town proving that this part of the country was, indeed, very important.

Another interesting and completely unrelated fact is that there was no feudal system in Lincolnshire because the people were too independent and would not be subjugated. Another interesting fact is that they were called stilt walkers because the land is so boggy. Another interesting fact is that farmers could claim rights over land reclaimed from the sea which is why there are so many long narrow farms along the coastline. These facts are from my head and may not be entirely accurate because I am famous for knowing lots of dodgy information.

17 comments:

DogLover said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
DogLover said...

Poor Ken, betrayed by the people he loved!

Your post is timed 7.34 am so you clearly stayed up all night awaiting the outcome of the London election. Tiredness must be the excuse for your boasting, nakedly Tory, blog. Roll on la révolution when you ruling class toffs will get your come-uppance! Maybe some latter-day Wat Tyler will rise from your Lincolnshire bogs to free the workers of this world. We have nothing to lose but our chiens.

doglover

OK, so 7.34 am is 8.34 am Summer Time

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Oh DogLove, a class amoungst comments. I must commend you.

I am actually a huge admirer of Red Ken. A man who not only walks the walk but talks the talk!

I have shed a quiet tear for him this morning.

Maggie May said...

Pity about Ken, as I thought he was a really good major. It was obviously done as a form of protest to Gordon Brown! And who can blame them!

Jean Genie(us) said...

Those cocktails have obviously worked well across the country. Ken??? Boris???? Let's just wait and see if there really is a difference when power is in the pocket. FYYS seems to me to be the way to go - certainly in an English accent!!!! The woman was right!!!

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Maggie, I would have more sympathy for Ken if I had not read that he had a publicity machine with a budget of over £100M, a team of 70 press offices this year and a media staff three times higher than that employed by the Prime Minister. If he couldn't win with those resources he deserved to lose!

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

I should explain the FY YS shouldn't I Jean Genie(us)? My good friend accidentally collided with a native New Yorker in the ladies room at an up-market restaurant. When she apologised the lady said "I love your accent" to which my friend politely replied "and I love yours". The lady then said "yes, but don't you think that fuck you, you suck sounds so much better with an English accent". No answer to that is there?

Stinking Billy said...

Nice one, pet. I have wondered before about you having great-grandchildren, which is fine for retirees, but now you are blogging about work and even publishing a picture of the place and your colleagues. I can't help speculating whether that's you with the helmet on, and driving the cart at the head of your home page.

"No life" you say in your profile?
You have got me confused, girl.

Anonymous said...

It will be interesting to see how Boris survives the media. I guess you have to be pretty strong these days to get past the headlines.

CJ xx

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Billie, you are confused, how do you think I feel? I am between ages, like a hormonal teenager, but at the other end of the spectrum.

The day that I wrote "I have no life" I was probaly feeling particularly pissed off about having made the decision to retire. I have worked on that problem and have inveigled my way back into the office again, but only on an informal ad hoc basis.

OG and I are the owners of the business but are passing the baton on to the younger generation.

I will publish a photograph of the whole "team" including OG and me time I blog. Incidentally, loved your photo with Margot. You are a handsome old dog.

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Sorry, Billie, that should have been a photo with Crystal, not Margot. Accuracy is not one of my strong points.

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Yes Crystal, media intrusion is a great problem now, but I suspect Boris is un-PC enough not to give a toss.

Sarah said...

Hey up,
I'm sure I left a comment...
I put it down somewhere, before I went away for the weekend.
I can't find it anywhere-
I hope I don't appear ungrateful-
I was saying 'thanks' for the award, which is my first-
Hum, now, did I leave it on the shelf? Under those cushions...

Anonymous said...

ken has been a good Mayor and although people have laughed at Boris, he is not as stupid as the press make him out.
His appointment of Ray Lewis as deputy is inspirational I think ,
Ray has considerable experience working with young men in particular as Director of EastSide Young Leaders Academy.A former prison Governor, Ray Lewis and his team take boys with potential who are nevertheless heading down the wrong path and literally help turn their lives around.During his campaign to become Mayor of London, Boris Johnson found the work of Ray Lewis and his team inspirational.
I willwatch with interest

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Hi Valley Mam what you say about Ray Lewis is so exciting. I have also been reading about a programme to help troubled London teenages do a "hand break" turn to change their lives for the good.

I remember year ago that the mayor of Corby, following the steel work closures, decided to put aside party politics and concentrate on getting Corby working again He had great success.

I am hoping that Boris will be allowed to do the same. The time for PC idealistic fuck wits is over, lets get this country back on track, starting with London.

It can be done, it must be done. If Guiliani could do it for New York I'm sure that Boris can do it for London.

Carolyn said...

I don't know much about London Mayors, but I will say those were some fun facts at the end. I love stuff like that... especially the bit about the long narrow farms. I hope it's true because it's interesting!

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Carolyn don't quote me on this, but I am never wrong!