City Hall

Image / ChrisGoldNY

Mayor Racks Up Big Taxi Bill

Image / ChrisGoldNY Rather spoiling his image as the cycling Mayor, Boris Johnson’s taxi bill for his time thus far in office is over £4,500, according to the BBC. This includes one ride that cost £237 alone as Boris kept the cab waiting outside his …

Image by cooliceblue

Tube Strike: Day Two

Image by cooliceblue Boris Johnson and RMT boss Bob Crow never seemed particularly suited to each others’ very different worlds, and relations between them have broken down to a Christmas card list-purging level. Dave Hill has printed in full an aggressive letter released by Crow …

by Tom Kondrat

No Wrath Over Boris Johnson’s Wreath Claim

by Tom Kondrat The Mayor was yesterday dragged into the MP expense row when it was revealed that, as the Member for Henley, he attempted to claim for a Remembrance Day wreath on expenses. The claim was rejected, and Johnson, who said it was “mistakenly …

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Gifts And Hospitality To London Assembly Members: Any Dirt?

You could forgive the GLA members for feeling just a tinge of jealousy as they watch the chaos unfolding in Westminster right now. No £20,000-a-year-for-your-moat-and-hold-the-capital-gains-tax for them. Last July AM Brian Coleman was greeted with outrage when he turned up with a trifling £10,000 taxi …

From Tower 42 SE 2008

Review: London Cityscapes @ City Hall

From Tower 42 SE 2008 If you’re in the Tower Bridge area and you’ve a few minutes spare, it’s worth ducking into City Hall to check out a small but engaging exhibition that shows the city in an unflattering but familiar light. In London Cityscapes, …

Image by 2012G

Alan Sugar Mayoral Bid Gaining Credence

Image by 2012G Okay, it’s stopped being funny now. According to an Evening Standard / London Tonight survey, Sir Alan Sugar, who was approached by Labour earlier in the year about a Mayoral run, would have a good chance of beating Boris: 40% of people …

By artofthestate's Flickrstream via the Londonist Flickrpool

Ask Boris: One Year On

By artofthestate’s Flickrstream via the Londonist Flickrpool So, as a buoyant BJ sucks the glass testicle from Ken’s lap, will London find itself in a sticky mess, or stand proud for a new era? So pondered we on 2 May 2008, as Boris romped home …

Image by violinconcertono3

Labour Approach Sir Alan Sugar For Mayoral Bid

Image by violinconcertono3 The era of glasnost and perestroika between the new-look Evening Standard and Ken Livingstone, which we hinted at just days ago, may already be over, judging by the enthusiasm with which Andrew Gilligan has confirmed that key Labour officials are talking to …

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Keeping The Cultural Metropolis Funkapolitan

Boris didn’t write “Cultural Metropolis: The Mayor’s Priorities for Culture 2009 – 2012” like he did his transport strategy, but he did get to pen a crazy foreword, scraping his own personal dictionary to extol our funkapolitan* museums and digging the “cosmopolitan, multilingual polychromatic vibe” …

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Judgment Day For Transport Projects

Yesterday we were so bemused by the prolix perambulations in Boris’ Way To Go transport document that we neglected to consider the very real probability of significant cuts to long-planned transport schemes. After the laughter, come the tears: today, in their 10-year business plan, TfL …

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Way To Go, Boris

Bozza’s press team weren’t daft, dreaming up that document title, were they? Look at that headline; pats on the back all round and this isn’t even the strategy proper. No, Way To Go! (exclamation mark and all) is the precursor to Johnson’s transport strategy – …