London Mayor rewards his friends while knifing his Leader

Author: Toby
Filed under: Conservative Party, Culture media and sport, Economy, Europe, Gossip, Local government, London, Transport, World politics

Thursday
Jan 17,2013

As Boris Johnson prepares to use the platform of the London Government dinner at the Mansion House tonight to try and upstage David Cameron’s long-awaited speech on Europe tomorrow, unsubstantiated gossip reaches me that the Mayor is moving to reward another of those associated with the Evening Standard’s campaign in 2008 to unseat Ken Livingstone and as a result help him to win the election as London Mayor.

Veronica Wadley (then the Standard’s editor) is now the Mayor’s (paid)appointee as chair of the London Arts Council.

A little bird tells me that now the Mayor is poised to appoint Andrew Gilligan (then the Evening Standard journalist who wrote some of the articles in the Standard most damaging to Ken Livingstone) as his new (paid) advisor on cycling in London.

Interesting, if true…..

I have now had it confirmed.

Quietzapple January 17th, 2013 at 21:59
I think Cameron has slipped out of his speech notionally because of the Algerian situation, but perhaps to avoid being upstaged by Bojo.
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Gilligan took holidays by Dorset & Devon busses a year or so ago. I saw him and he wrote about the bus routes for ones DT. He didn’t look much of a cyclist to me, but very nervous I thought. Perhaps he feared being stigmatised in person, for he left the bus to take another route.
Quietzapple January 17th, 2013 at 22:08
Gilligan has also written hagiographies and encomiums of Bojo for various publications, some available free in London I have seen. Reportedly Bojo was the first person to offer Gilligan work after he was sacked by the BBC at the behest of HMG after the tragic Dr Kelly suicide in which he had a role I find contemptible. The Daily Mail, whose group editor Lord Rothermere is “French for tax purposes” made an offer too and Gilligan accepted it.
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Breeds apart, are they not?