Charismatic Boris

With his trademark rowdy personality, unruly blonde hair and buffoon ways, London Mayor Boris Johnson has earned himself a legion of fans.

He is not your conventional politician. A humorous persona, Boris is an oak in a forest of willows. The 50-year-old has a knack of grabbing attention for all the wrong reasons.

 

 

Early Life

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson was born on June 19 1964 in New York City. Eldest of four children to Stanley and Charlotte Johnson, he has French, Turkish, Russian and German ancestry. As a child, Johnson suffered from severe deafness and had undergone several operations.

Johnson was educated at the European School of Brussels, Ashdown House School, and Eton College.

 

Career

After resigning from his first job as a management consultant, Johnson became a trainee reporter for “The Times”. Within a year he was sacked for falsifying a quote. He then joined “The Daily Telegraph” as lead and feature writer.

His association with “The Spectator” began as political columnist and then in 1995, he became the editor.

Johnson had political ambitions. Though he was defeated in the 1997 general election, Johnson was elected MP for Henley in 2001. He was sacked in 2004 over accusations that he’d lied to Michael Howard, Tory leader about a four year affair with Petronella Wyatt. David Cameron gave him a new lease of life by appointing him as Shadow Minister for Higher Education.

In July 2007, Johnson declared that he was a potential Conservative candidate for the London Mayoral Election and was confirmed the Conservative party. Even though several people considered him a bit of a joke, he won the London mayor election.

 

Controversies

Johnson has been no stranger to controversies throughout his career. On 16 October 2004, “The Spectator” carried an unsigned editorial claiming the inhabitants of Liverpool were wallowing in a “vicarious victimhood”. Although, Johnson had not written the piece, he accepted responsibility for its publication.

In 2004, British newspapers reported that Johnson had had a four-year affair with Petronella Wyatt. Johnson was sacked from his shadow cabinet post by Michael Howard, not because of the affair but because he had lied about it.

In a July 2009 interview, Johnson referred to the £250,000 per annum income he receives from his side job as a columnist for The Daily Telegraph as “chicken feed”. This comment was widely criticized, since the UK was at the time in economic recession and £250,000 is roughly 10 times the current average yearly wage for a worker in the UK.

 

Knight in shining armour

On November 2 2009, Johnson intervened in the attempted mugging of a London resident as she was walking home. The victim, Franny Amrstrong was pushed against a car by a “group of young girls”, one wielding an iron bar. Johnson was cycling past when he responded to Armstrong’s call for help. Johnson “picked up the iron bar, called after the girls and cycled after them.”

He also reportedly called the girls “oiks”. Johnson then returned to Armstrong and walked her home. Armstrong described Johnson as her “knight on a shining bicycle”.