You know when you have bought something you weren’t sure you needed, but you were tempted beyond control? And anyway, the thing it was meant to replace – familiar but also past-its-prime- really did need to be replaced. In with the new out with old.
But once you take the new thing home the doubts begin to set in. Did the thing really fit? Perhaps it was just the light in the changing room. Every day, little by little, the doubts grow. They grow until they are all-consuming. And you start thinking, extraordinarily, that maybe the old thing wasn’t half bad – even though it definitely was.
A lot of ordinary Londoners who voted Boris Johnson into office, thus ending Ken Livingstone’s Castroesque reign, must be feeling a bit similar now that the London Mayor has lost his second deputy. In spite of the fears of his colleagues and hopes of his enemies, Mayor Johnson has not been a disaster, racist or particularly buffoonish. In fact, he’s been perfectly sensible, occasionally innovative if a little hapless. The extra police officers on the Tube are making a difference while the alcohol ban was smart.
But, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde, to loose one deputy mayor may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness. As he hobnobs with Team GB in Beijing, Boris Johnson would do well to emulate that other replacement, Gordon Brown, and prepare for an Autumn re-launch of his own. He needs to get a top-notch Chief of Staff; someone who is brilliant, but low-profile and able to work with politicians and officials alike. As part of his reversal, he needs advice on how to reform City Hall including any legislative changes needed. Perhaps LSE’s Tony Travers could be asked to do a review.
The mayor then needs to focus on a few key issues. His administration feels a bit like the national government – many small initiatives but no over-arching narrative. It feels like the Brown government in other ways too – the top man wants to run everything himself and seems to find delegation to subordinates difficult. But leadership is about giving strategic direction and delegation.
Unlike the man in No. 10, Boris Johnson is likeable, is riding a Conservative upswing in the polls and has all the ingredients for a successful remake. But it will take serious re-thinking if he is to prevent voters from regretting their choice.
