Blond ambition

London mayor Boris Johnson has big plans, and that worries Conservative leaders, says Greg Williams

Five minutes after the scheduled start of mayor’s question time — a quasi-monthly opportunity for members of the London Assembly to demand a public accounting from the city’s top elected official — he arrives at last, wearing a backpack over his raincoat and carrying a large takeout coffee, his schoolboy thatch of platinum-blond hair even more dishevelled than usual.

He stuffs the backpack beneath his desk, casually tosses down a crumpled copy of the agenda, and removes his coat to reveal the traditional garb of the British ruling class: a navy-blue suit. “We’ll take item two while the mayor composes himself,” chairwoman Jennette Arnold says dryly.