Maverick mayor Johnson vows to tackle crime

Published on Saturday 3 May 2008 19:42

BORIS Johnson became the most senior elected Conservative to hold political office yesterday.

Around 400 supporters cheered and chanted as he arrived at City Hall yesterday afternoon for the formal signing ceremon.

In his first speech as mayor elect, just hours after a 15-year-old boy had been stabbed to death in a tower-block stairwell, he pledged to fight crime.

He won by the relatively narrow margin of 53-47%, but his victory is the first significant Tory win since 1992 and an enormous blow to Gordon Brown's leadership.

None of the major devolved assemblies in the UK – the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Greater London Assembly – is now controlled solely by Labour.

Tory leader David Cameron praised Johnson's "remarkable" victory and said it represented a springboard for general election success. "Three years ago the idea that the Conservatives would win London and build up a 20-point lead across the country would have been literally unthinkable. We've shown there is an alternative. We must now prove it."

But some Conservatives accept that Johnson's reputation as a gaffe-prone joker means he could become a liability rather than an asset.

Mark Field, MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, said: "It's going to be a white-knuckle ride." But he added that Johnson is the kind of maverick larger-than-life personality that London needs.

Johnson spoke warmly of his defeated opponent Ken Livingstone, and appeared to offer him a possible job, saying he hoped to "discover a way in which the mayoralty can benefit from your transparent love of London".

He had private talks yesterday with Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Ian Blair, fire commissioner Ron Dobson and transport commissioner Peter Hendy, and is expected to name key advisers over the next few days.