Johnson Boris - Pedal power: how Boris failed Londons cyclists

Pedal Power

Pedal Power

How Boris Failed Londons Cyclists

By Sonia Purnell

Praise forJust Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition

Its all here: Boris having his cake, eating it, and then having a bun Observer

Portrays better than any predecessor the arrogance, opportunism, and irresistible buffoonery of our most celebrated politician
Independent

Meticulous and quietly devastating
Nick Cohen, Standpoint

Sonia must have had huge fun writing this wonderful book. The only person who wont be amused is Boris himself
Michael Crick

Future biographers will always be in her debt
Andrew Gimson, Spectator

Filled with gems ... will make uncomfortable reading for Boris
Camilla Long, Sunday Times

One of the many virtues of Purnells forensic biography is that she broadly leaves the reader to make up their own mind about the true nature of this political phenomenon. Writing as a trained journalist, what Purnell does admirably is marshal the facts, warts and all
Nick Wood, ConservativeHome

Sharply narrated and diligently researched
Rafael Behr, New Statesman

If you want the full Johnson experience, do read Just Boris
Andrew Sparrow, Guardian

Whether you like Boris or loathe him, he is a class act and Sonia Purnells excellent book is a must read for those who want to understand this mystery wrapped in an enigma
Jerry Hayes, Spectator

Sonia Purnells Just Boris stood out as a critical, illuminating view of Londons great blond egomaniac
Anne McElvoy, A Year in Books, New Statesman

Thoroughly researched and well-crafted If you want to know who and what Boris is, read Sonia Purnell's book
Literary Review

Brilliant and shattering
Camden New Journal

Politicians know theyve made an impact when they can claim an object as their own. Margaret Thatcher had her handbag. Harold Wilson, who ousted a generation of grouse-shooting toffs from Downing Street, had his working-mans pipe (although it is said he preferred cigars in private). Boris Johnson, though, flaunts his bike. A thousand words could never be as potent as this two-wheeled conveyance of political propaganda. A trusty cycle nothing too flash, mind denotes feelings of fitness, friendliness and good, clean fresh air. It served him well as an MP when he needed to distance himself from his reputation as, in his own words, a boss-eyed, foam-flecked Euro-hysteric. The public image dividend became even richer when he launched himself into the mayoral race in London in 2008.

Throughout the campaign he took care to cycle in and out of shot whenever the cameras were rolling. This scruffy joker on a bike soon appeared to be distinctly at odds with the bigoted monster portrayed by some more excitable quarters of the media (and, foolishly, the Labour camp). His previous career as Jeremy Clarkson-style petrolhead and GQ motoring columnist was swiftly forgotten with the aid of a windswept coiffure and a bicycle clip. One unsympathetic columnist even groaned: Ach. That flopping hair, and that sodding bicycle. Has any man ever before managed to persuade such a huge number of people that he was a decent chap on two such flimsy, trivial, irrelevant, modish pieces of ephemera?

After his victory over tube-hopping Ken Livingstone, and clutching his cycle helmet like a liberal badge of honour, Boris quickly became dubbed not just the Nice Guy but the Cycling Mayor. Or perhaps they were the same thing. Surely there was no better way to silence his critics on the Left who still resented the success of this breezy Old Etonian. How could they land out-of-touch toff punches on him when he was braving Londons traffic along with everyone else on two wheels? There seemed little to fear from this Tory, whose very essence seemed to be captured by the egalitarian joys of cycling. He might resemble an old fogey with his plummy vowels and Latin tags, but didnt his love of cycling prove that he was a youthful maverick at heart?

This appealing image of Londons leader and the countrys most popular politician quickly became part of our national conversation. The cycling chatter was only briefly interrupted by news that the cycling mayor had spent 4,698 on taxis in London during his first year in office, including several back home. Perfect journeys, surely, for a bicycle. There was one rare wag on the blogosphere who asked at the time: Just where does Boris cycle? Is it to and from photo-shoots? But, so successful was the cycling mayors persona that he remained a lonely voice.

Those unfortunate taxi claims were swiftly forgotten in the euphoria of Boriss much-vaunted cycling revolution. No matter that he had not shown much interest in such an insurrection before Boris was not known, according to an administrator, to have turned up often, if at all, to the parliamentary all-party Cycling Group, for instance. But here at last was a cyclists champion who seemed to understand the needs of cyclists. He made particular play of travelling by bike to engagements during the great parliamentary expenses scandal of 2009 because unless youre completely insane or devious or a Liberal Democrat then there is no way you can fiddle your bike expenses. Indeed it was instructive how often Boriss bike took centre stage whenever questions of integrity or likeability were at stake. The old Etonian even made a point of pedalling in front of a station with a camera crew in tow during the particularly unpopular tube strikes of June 2009, led by class warrior and union leader Bob Crow.

In July 2010, after months of nail-biting delays, he launched a cycle hire scheme admittedly an idea first planned by his predecessor Ken Livingstone, a fact his staff were forbidden to mention. But hailing it as a glorious new form of public transport, Boris gave it a makeover with his own brand of joyous charm and a Barclays-Bank-blue paint job, in return for some rather secretive sponsorship of up to 25 million. These popular additions 4,000 of them at 400 docking stations in the centre of the city before expansion further east and west raised the number to 6,000 in March 2012 put many Londoners in mind of holidays in romantic foreign cities and many tourists into not-so-happy encounters with London traffic. Undoubtedly fun, establishing the hire bikes nevertheless cost taxpayers an estimated 100 million over Boriss mayoralty, despite promises that they would not be a burden on the public purse. By January 2012, there were signs of some disaffection at continuing technical issues and the difficulty of matching bikes with docks. Whats more, according to City Halls own figures, only one per cent of Londoners ever used them.

Nevertheless, 150,000 people overall had signed up to be members of the scheme. And few were seriously questioning that they had both added to the gaiety of London and the mayors cycling revolution. It was all part of Boriss stated aim to make London the best big city in the world.

Overall, Boris was justified in saying that Londoners were taking to two wheels in their thousands. A generation of young people starting their working lives in London and, faced with the crippling costs of parking permits and insurance for cars, got the hint and took to their bikes. The middle-aged too saw cycling as paunch-punching and potentially life-enhancing, even if nerve-racking. The number of bike journeys in London increased to account for 2.2 per cent of all journeys, twice the rate nationally. However, this was up only 0.3 percentage points in three years and puny compared to cycling rates in Amsterdam of 37 per cent. But by 2010, there were an impressive-sounding estimated 540,000 cycle journeys in the capital every day, compared to 490,000 a day when Boris took over and a paltry 290,000 in 2000. In parts of rush-hour central London, cyclists now outnumbered motorists. A sense of a new and astonishingly cohesive London cycling community was fostered while waiting for a green light, or chaining bikes to stands, and, for many, Boris was perhaps their temporal if not spiritual leader. In the City, home to image-conscious bankers, the last car showroom was closing down to make way for a bike shop.