Who And What Is The Mayor Of London
I was sitting around the other day trying to figure out what the Mayor of London is actually meant to do. As for who he is, I think you would have to be living somewhere in outer space not to know who the Mayor of London is. Just in case you have dropped in from another galaxy or from Lithuania, the Mayor of London is a superhero or for many others quite simply a buffoon, that goes by the name of Boris Johnson.
Now it is a bit trickier figuring out what Mayor Boris actually does? I know he writes a column for the Telegraph, which we are all well aware of, he only gets paid chicken feed for doing that job. He is also to appear in Eastenders in the Autumn, so maybe he is an actor and of course he has written a few books, that might be good for something other than reading. However I’m sure there is more to being the Mayor of London that writing or appearing in TV shows.
I recently read that Mayor Boris is such busy man running London, that he barely has time to watch Eastenders. Maybe he has to cut down on his part time jobbies.
What The Mayor Of London Is Meant To Do
Well lets start at the beginning, The Mayor of London is an elected politician, yes he was voted in, I know it is hard to believe. Well I suppose the Yanks voted a lunatic like George Bush into power for two terms, and I think Boris is smarter than him. Lets get back on track, The Mayor, who along with the London Assembly of 25 members is accountable for the strategic Government of Greater London, which has a population of over 7.5 million.
Boris Johnson former Conservative MP, I wonder if he was fiddling his expenses when he was a member of Parliament for Henley-on-Thames? He has held the position as Mayor of London since the 4th of May 2008 and after his term of 4 years is over, there will hopefully be some better candidates next time.
The Mayor’s job is made up of several roles. These include: putting together plans and policies to improve the city and benefit Londoners, managing London’s government with a budget of £9 billion to run transport services, police and fire services and promoting London’s economy being a spokesperson for the capital, representing the city at home and abroad. Boris representing London at home is bad enough but the thought of him carrying the torch so to speak for the city abroad is a disturbing prospect.
The Mayor works closely with London’s borough councils – who are responsible for providing many local services – to ensure that local and London–wide plans work well together.
The Mayor also works closely with, sets the budgets for and appoints part or all of the boards for Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police Authority, the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and the London Development Agency. So I suppose we can blame Boris and his input or is it his lack of input into helping to stop all those tube strikes.
As well as making these plans for London, the Mayor also has a number of powers like looking after Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square and deciding which major London building projects can go ahead. I personally would like to see more events happening at Trafalgar Square for the benefit of locals and tourists alike.
You will be glad to know that Mayor Boris isn’t responsible for -
Council housing
Schools
Social services
Hospitals
Street cleaning
Council tax rates
Parking fines
Permits or birth, death and marriage certificates
These services are all provided by borough councils or other organisations.
I would like to add that I think even Boris could do a better job of street cleaning than what I currently see happening all over London. Maybe there is another part time job for him to do in his spare time. But I’m afraid Boris wont get paid chicken feed to do it!
The question I ask the good citizens of London is whether Mayor Boris is doing a better or worse job than the former Mayor Ken Livingstone?
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For one, there’s no more alcohol on London Transport. Whether it’s properly enforced is a different matter. But there are less drunks on the Tube and buses after Boris took over. For that, I’ll give him my vote.
C K