Tuesday 10 September 2013

Boris the Spider

Originally published: March 15 2010

This puzzled my overseas readership when it first appeared. However, since the London Olympics I think everyone now knows about Boris Johnson, unbelievably (but very entertainingly) twice elected as Mayor of London.

Boris is a bit of a contradiction - he's a liberal leaning Conservative, a highly intelligent man who acts like a buffoon, and a man with an unerring ability to get into scrapes like this…

Getting stuck on a zipwire while publicising the London Olympics
Boris causing chaos in a river
Boris on Have I Got News for You
Boris making one of his speeches, being simultaneously inept, erudite, embarrassing and baffling to wonderful effect

Why did I make Boris a spider? This is why.

Pfeffel is one of his middle names. What is it about weird middle names that turns people into politicians? It seems to work for American presidents as well.

Finally, here's a book recommendation. Johnson's Life of London. He may not be able to walk in a straight line but he writes like a dream. How can you dislike a book that starts a chapter on the life of Hadrian with the word "Clonk"?

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