The Staggers

The New Statesman’s rolling politics blog

It was Boris who won the biggest cheer last night

The closing ceremony again demonstrated the Mayor's unrivalled popularity.

By George Eaton Published 13 August 2012 9:02

The Olympic Flag is handed from Boris Johnson to Jacques Rogge.

The Olympic Flag is handed from Mayor of London, Boris Johnson to IOC President Jacques Rogge. Photograph: Getty Images.

Perhaps it wasn't surprising given the paucity of talent on display (we wanted Glastonbury, they gave us the V Festival), but it's still notable that it was Boris Johnson, rather than any of the performers, who received the biggest cheer at last night's Olympics closing ceremony. The Games began with thousands chanting "Boris! Boris!" in Hyde Park, they ended with them roaring at the mere mention of his name in Stratford. It's hard to think of any other politician who could enjoy such a reception because, put simply, there isn't one.

Some will argue that this reflects the executive weakness of the Mayor's office. He's not a leader, he's a mascot. But Ken Livingstone never enjoyed such adoration and no alternative Labour (David Lammy?) or Conservative Mayor (Seb Coe?) would. The result is that Boris is now spoken of as a potential prime minister by both the left and the right, and viewed as an increasing threat by Labour.

Over the same period, for the first time since David Cameron became Prime Minister, conservative commentators have begun to question whether he will last until the election. He will, of course, but the mere posing of the question, just two years into his premiership, is an indictment of his leadership. Unsurprisingly, then, Cameron is increasingly unsettled by the Tories' prince across the Thames. In his final comments before he departed for his Mediterranean holiday, he pointedly noted that Boris had "some huge challenges to meet across the capital in his second term". Elsewhere, he stated: "I’m delighted that my party has so many big hitters. I’ve got the opposite of tall poppy syndrome." But even if that were true (with the possible exception of Ken Clarke, one searches in vain for a "big hitter" on the frontbench), Cameron would be forced to concede that there is no bigger hitter than Boris.

The danger for the Mayor, perhaps, is that he has peaked too soon. Will his brand of bonhomie be tired by 2015? I suspect not, and the Olympics will be remembered as the moment that the Tories (to their joy) and Labour (to its terror) realised as much.

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Tags: Olympics Boris Johnson David Cameron Conservatives

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18 comments

Mon, 2012-09-17 22:38 — Richard Jones (not verified)

Boris is a political titan and is the Tory's best hopes of winning the next election. Boris wants to be PM and he is already being talked about on becoming the next Conservative party leader. Those MP's at risk of losing their seat at the next election to Labour are seriously considering throwing their lot in with Boris. The British public should welcome a Boris premiership. His bumbling is staged managed to get you off guard. In reality Boris is a highly intelligent administrator and is in touch with the public. This is the man who could shape the next decade.

Tue, 2012-08-14 08:33 — hugh markey (not verified)

Boris would even go on a diet to climb the greasy pole to reach the PM top spot.

Chameleon

Mon, 2012-08-13 21:56 — Brod Ross (not verified)

Read BoJo stuff. The Tory backbenchers are to the right of Boris,. He comes with lots of baggage. Also he needs to win a safe seat, preferably in London. He says that he will serve a full term in London and that will take him past the next election. And he needs to carry Tory backbenchers with him., and when he was last in Parliament he lost friends in the party. Indeed he may have peaked to soon.

Mon, 2012-08-13 21:20 — elrob

I was in Victoria Park. He got huge cheers there, too. The only damp squib on a great Games. It is a worry. and Mike Cobley, Vickie Park was free last night. Thousands there. It's not a class thing; not even nearly.

Mon, 2012-08-13 21:19 — elrob

Mon, 2012-08-13 21:17 — elrob

I was in Victoria Park. He got huge cheers there, too. The only damp squib on a great Games. It is a worry.
and Mike Cobley; Vickie Park was free. It's not a class thing. Nowhere near.

Mon, 2012-08-13 18:23 — matthew fox (not verified)

Boris has baggage then the Chinese Olympic team. When he described the phone hacking as a political put up job, we got an insight into Boris.

Mon, 2012-08-13 16:40 — Keith mason (not verified)

Actually the biggest cheer of the night was for the volunteers - Seb Coe had to pause his speech for this. The cheers as Boris held the flag were for the success of London 2012.

The commentariat need to catch up. As with the Jubilee* the British people are embracing anything other than the politicians, bankers, journalists and PLCs whose short termism and greed have let us all down - and cheering the representatives of the people who have achieved so much by hard work and graft, as Mo eloquently put it.

*yes the Jubilee - the queen widely if bizarrely seen as a symbol of the people and stability and all that has been destroyed by the aforementioned groups.

Mon, 2012-08-13 15:58 — Romany (not verified)

Mr Eaton is not stinting in his admiration. He manipulates what the French call" la brosse à reluire" like one wedded to it.

Mon, 2012-08-13 12:55 — mike hartley (not verified)

The latest ICM polling on Boris directly contradicted the group-think that the media class follows sometimes - i.e. Milband will never lead the Tories in the polls (what happened to that).

Bojo got a cheer as he was the 'british' bit at the end. It was, don't forget, after all the other atheltes had done their thing.

Mon, 2012-08-13 12:55 — mike hartley (not verified)

The latest ICM polling on Boris directly contradicted the group-think that the media class follows sometimes - i.e. Milband will never lead the Tories in the polls (what happened to that).

Bojo got a cheer as he was the 'british' bit at the end. It was, don't forget, after all the other atheltes had done their thing.

Mon, 2012-08-13 12:10 — Hikaru22

GeorgeEaton:

'...we wanted Glastonbury, they gave us the V Festival...'

The pity of it is that Blur (with both Harry Enfield and Phil Daniels) were performing 'Parklife' live in Hyde Park on the same evening. Why weren't they inside the arena?

Neverthless, I enjoyed Madness and I thought the John Lennon/Imagine sequence was superb. And I was glad to see Liam Gallagher and Fatboy Slim, if only because nineties pop had been conspicuous by its absence from both the Olympics opening ceremony and HM The Queen's Diamond Jubilee concert.

It may have been ' the V Festival', but it still had some good things in it.

Mon, 2012-08-13 11:51 — pourmia (not verified)

I s George Eaton on something? Bojo, a threat to Labour? Give me a break, if and thats a big 'if', he is as popular as Eaton seems to believe, it is because he is perceived as a clown/jester. The day the public elects a clown and someone who cannot even manage a city let alone a country, as heir PM, is the day London would lose all credibility. Clearly Eaton has nothing better to write about - then again this is the silly season where no news leads to nonsense being written.

Mon, 2012-08-13 11:29 — Michael Dixon (not verified)

Boris Johnson is very useful for David Cameron. If he is seen as popular then the Eton/toff accusation against Cameron, which I think is stupid and immature anyway, loses its last semblence of political credibility.

I agree with the writer here that Boris has peaked too soon and his constituency within the Conservative Party are those on the right flaying around for an alternative to Cameron who is perceived as too liberal. He needs to move away from that and fast.

However if Johnson is sensible then he could be a massive plus for the Conservatives in 2015, again as correctly pointed out by George Eaton and his Party would be for ever grateful in the years ahead.

The main political loser in the Games? The Union leader who called the strike the day before the Olympics. His reputation is done for now.

Mon, 2012-08-13 11:28 — Barrie J (not verified)

Please, please, please New Statesman give us a break from the tw#t that is the leg end Boris Johnson

Mon, 2012-08-13 11:13 — Kaj (not verified)

Yet another fawning article about Boris Johnson....Please NS and George Eaton especially, change the record!!

Mon, 2012-08-13 10:31 — mike cobley (not verified)

Er, no. Big cheers for Bojo the Buffoon could be down the political makeup of the audience, who had money to buy tickets. Which is more likely than not to equate to the Tory-voting end of the spectrum.

Johnson is rightwing enough for the Tory backwoodsmen to approve of - a bit more attention to his policies and his beliefs would better serve us than this 'oooh, Bojo, 'e's a legernd' guff.