Boris Johnson Booed By Tennis Fans, Boosted By GQ

Dean Nicholas
By Dean Nicholas Last edited 148 months ago
Boris Johnson Booed By Tennis Fans, Boosted By GQ

A topsy-turvy couple of days for the Mayor's ego: on Sunday he was booed at the ATP finals for holding up play, but on Monday awoke to the news that he'd been named as the 'most influential person in Britain' by GQ magazine.

Snipe has video of the incident at the O2, in which play was held up for almost a minute as the Mayor made his way back to his seat, whilst being simultaneously upbraided by the announcer and booed by the crowd. To be fair, it's not just Boris at fault: he's one of a small claque of latecomers, but for a media-friendly mayor going into an election year it can't be reassuring to have the voters turn on you, however briefly.

Still, Boris bounced right back on Monday morning, when it was revealed that he'd pulled ahead of such august competition as David Cameron, Prince William and others to top GQ's 'most influential man 2012' list.

The jonesing for Johnson is nothing new at GQ: in 2008, shortly after his mayoral victory, they named him Politician of the Year, and in recent months he's been 'honoured' (if that's the right word) by an interview with Piers Morgan. This Boris crush might have more significance than at first seems apparent. GQ editor Dylan Jones cosied up to David Cameron whilst the latter was in opposition, running countless fawning columns and even writing a whole book about the future PM. If, as many anticipate, Boris' ultimate goal is Downing Street, then GQ is simply hitching its sidecar to the country's next leader.

Last Updated 28 November 2011