Tuesday, 18 December 2012

Harry Phibbs reviews Victory in London by Alex Crowley

Victory in London: The inside story of the Boris campaign by Alex Crowley (Bretwalda Books. £17.99)
This is a story with a happy ending. Really two happy endings - as for your money you have an account of the first Boris Johnson victory of 2008, as well as the re-election that took place this year.
Included are some memos from Boris to his team in 2007 explaining why he wanted to be Mayor. Boris wrote:
"I want to be the mayor who CHAMPIONS AMBITION, and that means helping young kids cheat the dreadful fate of being sucked into a gang. This is where I think I can make the biggest difference to London, and I want as many policies as possible aimed at the INEQUALITY OF AMBITION. I have had a very privileged and very lucky life - and I want kids across London to have the kind of chances I have had. I will use sport, and art, and whatever powers I have over education and skills to help achieve this. That is the chief objective of my mayoralty."
In the same document, Boris said of the incumbent Ken Livingstone:
"He is no longer sticking up for the little guy against the system. He is the system. He has morphed into the ruling class like the pigs in Animal Farm. He sits like Smaug on the great heap of GOLD he has accumulated from the FINES (why don't we have a poster of a giant newt coiled avariciously around our dosh) - contrast my more generous regime, which will give people more time to pay and will be less brutal and fascistic and dictatorial."
You know the good guy wins both contests, but this doesn't stop the story being exciting. As Boris put it in 2010:
The Labour Party has responded to the challenge of finding a new mayoral candidate with a stupefying lack of originality. They have found a piece of DNA preserved in the tar pits of Cricklewood...Like Holmes and Moriarty, like Harry Potter and Voldemort, it seems that this contest is feted to continue for more than one episode.

 YOU CAN READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE 

Buy your copy HERE
Buy your ebook HERE

Book Description

13 Dec 2012
The inside story of the campaign to put Boris Johnson back into power as London Mayor told by one of the top members of his campaign team who was at Boris's side throughout. In 2012 the political stakes could not be higher. After one term in office and despite enjoying personal popularity, Boris Johnson faced an uphill battle for re-election as Mayor of London. Buffeted by Tory unpopularity, the toughest financial conditions in years and accusations that he was out of touch and Mayor, Boris faced the fight of his political life. And to top it all, he was up against Ken Livingstone, one of the most formidable and ruthless campaigners in British politics. This is the first and most authoritative book about Boris Johnson's re-election. Told by an insider, it will reveal the inner workings of the campaign and how one of the most high profile politicians in the country and his extraordinary team pulled off an election victory that was closer than anyone dared think. Based on an unprecedented level of access to all the key players, including Boris himself and campaign director Lynton Crosby, this is a must read for anyone interested in politics. * Launch Event at Conservative Party Conference. * High profile political bloggers will push the book * Sunday newspaper serialisation under negotiation Social Media * The book will be "Book of the Month" for Bretwalda for November 2012 which will involve an intensive FaceBook and Twitter push as well as the usual book launch marketing.

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