8. MANAGERIAL AND LEADERSHIP INCOMPETENCE
Friday, 01 May 2009 13:48
Boris Johnson has shown an extraordinary inability to bring together an efficient team manage London’s government. His own appointments have been nothing short of catastrophic failures, with the loss of:
* his much-vaunted super-chief executive, Tim Parker, who resigned within months of taking office;
* his Deputy Chief of Staff after remarks suggesting ethnic minority Londoners who did not like the new Mayor could leave London;
* his Deputy Mayor for young people after allegations of sexual and financial impropriety,
* the chair of his heavily promoted Mayor’s fund, Barclays banker Bob Diamond…who turned out to have other priorities;
* his Olympics adviser David Ross who had to leave after his controversial business practices hit the headlines.
More importantly Johnson undermined the relationship between the police and City Hall by forcing out the Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, after years of hostility in the right-wing media for his efforts to improve the Met’s relations with London’s diverse communities.
Most recently he has lost one of the top leaders of London’s transport system, the highly respected Managing Director of the London Underground, Tim O’Toole, who had steered the city through the collapse of the company controlling two thirds of the Public Private Partnership imposed on the Tube and numerous potential conflicts with the trade unions. At the same time, he has eliminated women from leading positions at City Hall, producing a top management team which looks nothing like the city it is supposed to serve.
* Deputy chief of staff James McGrath quit in June 2008, less than two months after Boris Johnson was elected, for responding to the proposition that some black Londoners might leave the UK if Mr Johnson became mayor: "Let them go if they don't like it here" (BBC online 23 June 2008).
* In July 2008, Deputy Mayor Ray Lewis resigned after a series of allegations. Lewis was the first appointment made by Johnson to be publicly announced after his election. Initially, after claims of improper conduct towards parishioners while he was a practising Church of England minister in the 1990s, Johnson stood by him. After statements Lewis made at a press conference were found to inconsistent or wrong – particularly his assertion that was a justice of the peace, which was not true – he resigned.
* On 19 August 2008 First Deputy Mayor Tim Parker resigned. Parker had been appointed to be de facto chief executive of the GLA group and to run Transport for London on Johnson’s behalf. LibDem Assembly leader Mike Tuffrey said: “To lose one advisor is unfortunate, to lose two is careless but to lose three in four months shows the wheels are coming off this new administration.”
* On 9 December 2008 David Ross, the mayor’s adviser on the Olympic finances, was forced to resign after admitting he ‘forgot’ to inform the Carphone Warehouse board that he had used his shares in the business as security for a multi-million pound loan. It emerged he had used his shares in National Express and three other companies as security for a series of personal loans and forgotten to inform his fellow directors of his actions. Johnson was reported to have personally selected Ross to represent him on the board of the Olympic organising committee (LOCOG) to ensure the 2012 games are delivered within budget.
* In addition to these resignations Johnson also lost Bob Diamond who was to head the Mayor’s Fund. Diamond’s appointment had been announced by Johnson’s campaign during the mayoral election, but on 17 June it was confirmed he would stand down, “after only six weeks”, as the Evening Standard reported.
* Johnson’s appointment of his Deputy Simon Milton was chaotic. He was first appointed as a planning adviser but remained a Westminster City Councillor. After this was questioned it was confirmed that he would be an unpaid adviser. The Evening Standard’s deputy political editor Paul Waugh wrote on his blog: “There are possible conflicts on his planning role, but these to appear to be outweighed by the wider problem of him being a sitting councillor and a senior figure at City Hall.” In July 2008 Milton resigned from Westminster Council, allowing him to become a paid appointee. Len Duvall AM said: "Boris Johnson knew Sir Simon's appointment was in breach of the law and that if he hadn't taken action to resolve this fiasco someone else was about to. Of course we welcome his belated decision to do the right thing and step down but the Mayor could have resolved this and spared everyone's blushes weeks ago had he bothered to pay attention to the rules. He has been very slap-dash in handing out titles and positions to people. This is the latest blunder that proves he should have taken a little more time and paid more attention to the rules before rushing ahead with politically expedient appointments." (14/7/09)
* However in a reversal of the usual process, it was announced that Sir Simon Milton was being appointed and only then would go through a process which would “be subject to the appropriate procedures, with an interview panel chaired by Greater London Authority Chief Executive Anthony Mayer, which will include an independent element and a confirmation hearing, if required, by the London Assembly.” (GLA press release, 14/7/09).
* Following the chaotic appointments Nick Boles, Johnson’s interim Chief of Staff, conceded to a hearing of the London Assembly BMAC committee that the process had been driven by “the reality of politics and the media pressure”. (BMAC transcript, 23 July 2008).
