View all newsletters
Sign up to our newsletters

Support 110 years of independent journalism.

  1. Politics
20 March 2012updated 05 Oct 2023 8:05am

Boris Johnson privatises official Mayor of London Twitter account

By Samira Shackle

Politicians are well aware of the campaigning power of Twitter. Which explains why Boris Johnson appears to have changed the name of the non-partisan @MayorOfLondon Twitter account to — you guessed it, @BorisJohnson. Changing the account instantly gives the Mayor 253,152 followers.

This matters because the Mayor of London account is an official tool of the Greater London Authority, used to communicate with the public. Taxpayer money will have gone towards it in the form of staff time spent manning the account. Now that the name has been changed, the embedded link on the page has been changed from the neutral www.london.gov.uk to Boris’s campaign website, www.backboris2012.com.

Over at Liberal Conspiracy, Sunny Hundal, who reported this story first, points out that Gordon Brown established the No 10 Downing Street Twitter account but didn’t change it to his own name when he stepped down.

 

UPDATE 3.30pm

The BackBoris2012 website has published the following statement:

As some of you may have noticed, earlier today Boris changed the name of his Twitter account from @MayorofLondon to @BorisJohnson. While the name of the account may have changed, rest assured that the account is still – and has always been – controlled by Boris.

No City Hall resources will be used to update or maintain the account – that would be against the rules. Given we’re now in the official election period, this change is being made so there can be no question of Boris using official resources to campaign.

Of course those who no longer wish to follow the account are of course welcome to “unfollow” at any time.

Content from our partners
The promise of prevention
How Labour hopes to make the UK a leader in green energy
Is now the time to rethink health and care for older people? With Age UK

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU