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Boris Johsnon has overhauled his top team at City Hall in the wake of the Ian Clement expenses scandal and criticism of his "shambolic" leadership.
The Mayor has scrapped the £127,000-a-year post of deputy mayor for external relations after Mr Clement was forced to quit. Mr Johnson has also decided to exclude himself from all but a handful of decisions on staff expenses and appointed his aide Sir Simon Milton as his formal chief of staff.
Critics claim that the expenses scandal - in which Mr Clement used a corporate credit card to wine and dine his girlfriend - stemmed from the lack of clear lines of accountability in the Mayor's regime. Mr Johnson, who this April assumed responsibility for personally signing off the expenses of his 12-strong team of advisers, will now only approve claims made by his deputies. Sir Simon will sign off other expenses. The number of deputy mayors, which at one stage stood at five, has been reduced to three. As well as Sir Simon, Richard Barnes and Kit Malthouse retain their posts.
The Mayor has seen three other deputies - Ray Lewis, Tim Parker and Mr Clement, quit in less than a year.
Mr Clement's borough liaison duties will be split among the three deputy mayors, while his international roles will be parcelled out to communications chief Guto Harri and policy chief Anthony Browne.
Labour's Assembly deputy leader John Biggs said: "It's shocking that it's taken Boris a year to put a proper management structure in place. There remains a problem of a lack of clear direction and leadership."
Lib-Dem Assemby group leader Mike Tuffrey said: "By making these changes, Boris Johnson is clearly responding to criticisms of the shambolic nature of his governing team.
"Boris Johnson heavily criticised his predecessor for governing through cronies. Yet we are still waiting for the cabinet he promised with proper formality about collective decision-making."
Mr Johnson faces continuing criticism over his handling of the Clement case. The Mayor has said that he assumed his deputy had dumped his City Hall credit card last summer. But internal documents show Mr Johnson signed off Mr Clement's March and April "corporate credit card log".
Dangers of stupidity
Boris Johnson today attacked local councils for issuing pointless warnings. The Mayor branded officials the “Royal Society of the Extremely Stupid” as he highlighted a Tooting graveyard where visitors are warned not to fall into sunken graves, a London park bench with a yellow triangular warning sign reading “May become wet” and a sign reading “uneven surface” at a pebbly beach in Sussex.
The Mayor wrote: “People are increasingly frustrated with pointless street clutter and are ready to go back to common sense. That is why many London boroughs are now actively looking at removing traffic lights.”
Reader views (8)
James, Manchester It was John Major who sold the railways down the line not Thatcher. Thatcher and Parkinson had looked at privatisation of BR but decided it would cost to many commuter votes if it went wrong.
As for Boris another day another scandle as Brian Coleman refuses to give details of his expenses...
Boris regime is becoming like the Magic Roundabout ..
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
How many more resignations of Boris's hand-picked cronies will it take before he drops out of serious politics and returns to the Tory Backbenches?
- Jack Clouseau, Acton England
Why should anyone be surprised when the bungling idiot Johnson messes everything up. Rather than taking responsibility for any of his mistakes he is handing them over to his minions. He should get back to acting the clown on HIGNFY and concentrate on his £250,000 a year column for the Daily Telegraph. His Mayors salary must be the biggest waste of taxpayers money since Thatcher sold the railways to her friends.
- James, Manchester England
Does London really need a mayor who can't take responsibility for the expenses of those he appoints? With five key advisers having jumped or been pushed, Boris is looking increasingly isolated, and his abilities challenged.
As an after dinner speaker I'm sure he is a tremendous hoot, but as the politician who claimed he would bring transparency to City Hall he has failed. Like Cameron, he sells the sizzle and not the sausage. Anyone close to City Hall, knows all to well that this is just the tip of the iceberg. How long can he last?
- Steve S, London
So Boris has decided to EXCLUDE himself from from most staff costs affairs. Well thats one way to avoid the blaim next time someone is caught with the hands in the till.
Boris as Mayor His a Puppet...
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
Does Biggs actually do anything other than whinge about Boris? I’ve never read anything about any of his achievements.
- St, London
Lest one forget who set up Boris's incoherent managements structure, it was Nick Boles, from the Policy Exchange think tank, a man very close to David Cameron's future government. Let's hope he's learnt from his mistakes, eh?
There remains the growing problem of Guto Harri, who's essentially Boris's spin doctor and PR minder, and is increasingly getting very big for his boots.
Boris's attitude to traffic lights, incidentally, descends straight from Nick Ridley, one of the worst people ever put in charge of British transport policy. Clearly there's no one with any sense steering transport policy in London at the moment.
- Tom, London, UK
Bor5is has been allowed to get away with murder yet again by stating something that is blatantly untrue. Boris first states that he took the credit card away last summer and then signed off credit card claims this year. Is there no way Boris can be held to account?
- Eriic Pickle, Hammersmith England
