OPINION

Mayor of London: Surely Eccentricity has its Limits?

August 05, 2007
Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta

When I was knee high to a pea plant, I started getting interested in politics (in a vain hope to sound intelligent when trying to pick up birds). My mother told me a quote which still sticks to my mind, she said: "Son, you will be torn between two feelings when somebody you know gets elected to high office, namely local pride and fear for your country". I am facing the same situation here as far as the elections for the Mayor of London are concerned.

I don't know what side of the bed London got out of those thousands of years ago, but it has been peculiarly afflicted with challenges starting from floods, fire, plague, war, bombing, riots, death, destruction, overpopulation, stinking sewers, collapsed or creaking infrastructure and has ended up with a seriously amusing Mayoral election.

In this morning's metro, I read that Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik is going to stand for the position of Mayor of London. I was struck by two feelings. I have written before about London versus NY, but how come NY gets political giants such as Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg and we, well, we get to choose between Red Ken, tousled haired Boris Johnson and Cheeky Lembit. And the second was, why the heck are we faced with these "worthies"?

The only thing that is common between these chaps is that they are all very eccentric. Best way to describe them. Red Ken is an unreconstructed communist from the hard hard left, prone to making gaffes such as taking 300 quid taxi rides, getting into a war with the American embassy in London, being found guilty of anti-semitism, telling Americans that they are stupid (this speech while wanting to increase tourist numbers … Americans constitute the biggest number tourists to UK).

Don't get me wrong, he has pushed for good things in London like the congestion charge, trying to improve the transportation infrastructure, etc. He is ferociously intelligent, mind you but he is very eccentric. Never a dull moment with our Red Ken!

Then you have Boris, who pissed off the Liverpudlians by saying that they were a maudlin lot. He then had to go to Liverpool and publicly apologise, a modern day stock punishment! Boris participates in a comedy programme on BBC and is hugely popular, very intelligent and edits a high brow magazine. He was caught doing a bit of risqué' hanky panky. Boris drives a good bicycle (looks absolutely ludicrous in lycra), has the most entertaining turn of speech and well, has a signature hairstyle (I am pushing it by calling it style, but you know what I mean).

And then you have Lembit Opik. I know, you must be going, Lembit who? Well, Lembit's claim to fame is that he is dating a Romanian one song shot pop star, Gabriela Irimia (along with her twin Monica Irimia) sang one song which hit the charts. The song, Cheeky Girls, sung by these two lovely young ladies, showed them in a tiny pair of shorts gyrating in a demented fashion while leaping around like a new born gazelle and asking people to touch their bums.

Well, Lembit dates one of them. Again, he is quite bright, very intellectual and has a very firm grasp of public policy but if he gets elected, the closest I can think of as an example would be John Edwards with Paris Hilton as his wife going for the US Presidency. Can you imagine Paris Hilton as the First Lady? Well, you got it.

The only explanation I can come up with is that the powers enjoyed by the London Mayor are so little (compared to NY), that only those people who are on the political fringes and are unable to aim for a serious political career tend to apply for this role. It is more prestige rather than action.

This is unlike in NY, where the Mayoralty is substantial with tax raising powers and ability to direct investment. So we get these clowns and Londoners, themselves a very hardy and eccentric breed. Remember the case where the overwhelming reaction after the London bombings was, "we are a bit inconvenienced but nothing that a cuppa tea wouldn't resolve", while see how NY reacted after 9/11? They went to war, while we drank some tea! Ah! I love this city, its people and country.

And I support Boris Johnson. I had enough of Red Ken's eccentricities. I need a different eccentric personage leading London now, so let the Circus Londonium Maximus Show begin.

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!

Dr. Bhaskar Dasgupta works in the city of London in various capacities in the financial sector. He has worked and travelled widely around the world. The articles in here relate to his current studies and are strictly his opinion and do not reflect the position of his past or current employer(s). If you do want to blame somebody, then blame my sister and editor, she is responsible for everything, the ideas, the writing, the quotes, the drive, the israeli-palestinian crisis, global warming, the ozone layer depletion and the argentinian debt crisis.
eXTReMe Tracker
Keep reading for comments on this article and add some feedback of your own!

Comments! Feedback! Speak and be heard!

Comment on this article or leave feedback for the author

#1
temporal
URL
August 5, 2007
03:36 AM

beady:

does eccentricity flow up or down? or is it the english weather?

the royalty has its share of eccentrics and that is what prompts this somewhat serious query sans sodium

#2
bd
August 5, 2007
04:04 AM

t,

eccentricity is always sideways, lol lol lol :), i suspect its the weather which makes it so!, all that rain has to make the brain patterns waterlogged and misfire sometimes! :)

#3
Chandra
August 5, 2007
10:31 AM

BD

Like everything else, nothing is likely to change irrespective of who wins. Property prices will continue to go up and Trains will be late and crowded.

#4
bd
August 5, 2007
11:22 AM

of course not, Chandra, why would politicians ever change anything!, that's not part of the job description! :) The very idea, to expect London Mayors to make a difference!

cheers

bd

#5
Chandra
August 5, 2007
11:44 AM

BD

Thats true. BTW do you expect a Cameroon recovery before the next election? He is increasingly looking and sounding like a labor me-too.

rgds

#6
MAPAD
August 5, 2007
12:44 PM

"Remember the case where the overwhelming reaction after the London bombings was, "we are a bit inconvenienced but nothing that a cuppa tea wouldn't resolve", while see how NY reacted after 9/11? They went to war, while we drank some tea!"


Oh yes, we know the inference here...America is violent and aggressive! America are just war mongers who should have had a cup of tea in response to 9/11.

Can't resist a bit of America bashing can you? You America Haters are like junkies.

The difference between America and the UK right now is that America doesn't surrender to Fascism and terrorism.



Maybe the UK should have had a cup of tea instead of standing up to Hitler?

Maybe you just think we should let the terrorists and their supporters win because it's our fault for upsetting them in the first place? right?



Didn't the Allies impose the unfair Versaille Treaty on Germany? Surely the Allies were responsible for German anger?

Surely the UK had no moral right to go to war with Germany having been the cause of it in the first place?


Also, not ALL German citizens were actually committing violence in the name of Nazism so it was really unfair of the UK to fight a war against a whole country just because of the actions of a few members of that country!

The vast majority of German never commited a violent act!




As for America's war with Islam, you actually you all have it the wrong way round.

America is the victim in all of this. America is unfairly demonized by the Islamic world who unfairly criticize its foreign policy so it really has no choice, but to go to war.

Surely, the liberal in you can see America's POV? Why don't you look inside yourselves and see how your attitudes have caused America's rage?

#7
Chandra
August 5, 2007
01:19 PM

MAPAD

Accusing BD of being a junky is nothing less than funny. It seems you suffer from a very high degree of paranoia. Please read other posts by BD before jumping to conclusions. If you cannot understand sarcasm, nobody can help you. You sound very insecure, no wonder you display so much hatred for muslims.

rgds

#8
temporal
URL
August 5, 2007
01:39 PM

heheh

beady a "junkie"?

i know his sister has called him worse;)

but

for other reasons

not the ones conjectured here delusionally

#9
MAPAD
August 5, 2007
02:44 PM

Yes, Chandra, I'm paranoid.

That's probably what you would have said to the Jews in 1930's germany isn't it?


You probably would have accused the Jews of being insecure and displaying hatred for Nazi's too wouldn't you?




Beslan, Madrid, Mumbai, London 7/7, Bali, 9/11, London/Glasgow, etc. etc.

I'm just being paranoid right! :)

#10
Chandra
August 5, 2007
02:46 PM

No MAPAD

You are paranoid like Hitler.....

rgds

#11
bd
August 5, 2007
04:23 PM

Chandra #5,

I am afraid i am very disappointed with David, he was supposed to come up with what i would call as the compassionate conservatism but he turned into a bloody tree hugger conservative. Very lightweight, no wonder Gordon Brown walks all over him. He has a major credibility and plausibility issue. All show and no action.

#12
bd
August 5, 2007
04:25 PM

MAPAD, my comment about London versus NY was how phelgematic we are. And the joke about the cuppa tea was with reference to the following joke which was circulated hugely.

Relax mate, we are on the same side. Check out my other writings! :)

cheers

bd

#13
bd
URL
August 5, 2007
04:26 PM

The British are feeling the pinch in relation to recent bombings and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." Londoners have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940, when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been recategorized from "Tiresome" to a "Bloody Nuisance."

The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was during the great fire of 1666.Also, the French Government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Surrender" and "Collaborate." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralysing the country's military capability.

It's not only the English and French that are on a heightened level of alert. Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans also increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose." Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday, as usual, and the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

#14
bd
URL
August 5, 2007
04:28 PM

sighs at t, TBS calls me a homar :(, i even made a post on that on my daily blog!

http://dailysalty.blogspot.com/2007/08/mule-homar-library.html

Add your comment

(Or ping: http://desicritics.org/tb/5926)

Personal attacks are not allowed. Please read our comment policy.






Remember Name/URL?

Please preview your comment!