Autoblog

Motorists in London had high hopes when they elected Boris Johnson as their mayor. The former Conservative party leader is a well-known gearhead, and even moonlights as an automotive journalist. And those hopes may just yet be vindicated, as Mayor Johnson begins rolling back the Congestion Charges instituted by his reviled predecessor "Red" Ken Livingstone.

For starters, Boris has stated publicly and on the record, "I am not going to be having any more congestion charges." Although he has not yet dismantled the entire system, the Mayor has indicated that he is considering canceling its most recent extension into the Kensington and Chelsea neighborhoods, narrowing down the zone to the downtown core between Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge. At the same time, Johnson is launching a half-million-pound public consultation into the entire C-Zone network, while campaigning for a "modal shift towards bicycling and walking, not just in inner London but also in outer London." We hope to hear good things soon.

[Source: PistonHeads]

Forgive us for not being more up on the landscape of local London politics, but when we informed you that anti-automobile incumbent Ken Livingstone had lost his bid for reelection as the Mayor of London we had no idea how lucky Londoners had gotten with his replacement. Boris Johnson is his name, and he is the Yin to Livingstone's car-hating Yang. Johnson is a true motorhead, and a quick Google search reveals a plethora of evidence supporting that description.

The man is actually a professional editor, journalist and automotive scribe, having penned car-related columns for a number of newspapers and even British GQ. He's written a number of books including one called Life in the Fast Lane: The Johnson Guide to Cars, which appears to be straight from the Jeremy Clarkson school of car comedy. You can read more about Johnson at his official website here, check out his video review of the Nissan Quashqai here, or read reviews of his book at Amazon.com here.

Oh, and Johnson did appear on Top Gear once to drive a reasonably priced car on the TG test track. His time? 1:56 seconds in a Suzuki Liana (this was before they switched to the Chevy Lacetti), good enough for ninth place at the time and ultimately 56th when the list was finally reset. Did your city's mayor appear on Top Gear? That's it, we're moving to Chelsea.

Ken Livingstone is the current mayor of London who has not endeared himself to the city's swarm of automobile owners while in office since 2000. His most controversial move as London's mayor was to institute a congestion charge for driving in certain parts of the city, and his latest idea of instituting a $50-per-day tax for gas-guzzlers within the city limits has drawn some serious ire from Porsche. It looks like Stuttgart can call off its lawyers, as good ol' Kenneth just lost his reelection bid to the Conservative party's Boris Johnson. The Conservatives handed the Labour party its lunch in most local elections today, but the loss of the mayoral seat in London must especially sting for Livingstone and his Labourers. Unfortunately, we don't know what kind of guy Johnson is like and whether or not he'll repeal the congestion charge or pursue the gas-guzzler tax, but at least car-crazy Londoners can rest easy tonight knowing that their mortal enemy has lost his seat of power. Thanks for the tip, John!

[Source: The Telegraph]