Whether it’s racing Boris Johnson down the sprint track at the Beijing Olympics or watching aghast as the Mayor stumbles into a river in front of the national media, life as the press adviser to London’s mayor is “never dull,” said Guto Harri at a recent gathering of diplomatic press attachés.

Harri, who frequently trails behind the Mayor on a Boris Bike, assured diplomats that beneath the Mayor’s blonde mop (which made him unofficial Ambassador for Brylcreem), there is a serious politician.

“Boris is a megaphone and a magnet for London,” Harri told DPAAL members. As a ‘megaphone’ the Mayor has been an advocate for the London economy, defending the financial services industry at a time when bankers are unpopular and promoting a new airport in the Thames estuary, in the teeth of opposition from environmental groups.

Bold reforms to the Met Police means London’s crime level is the lowest since 1978 and his axing the western extension of the Congestion Charging zone won the approval of many, including diplomats – although they should not expect an exemption, he added.

As a ‘magnet’, the Mayor aims to attract talent to the city, added Harri, and the Mayor has not been afraid to attack the Coalition Government’s immigration policies which he claims will be damaging for business and London’s universities.

“By stopping foreign students who pay a premium to study here our universities will suffer. They are important to the economic and intellectual life of the city,” Harri said.

London’s diversity will also make for a spectacular Olympic Games, he added. “It is thought half of the contestants in the Games will play to a home crowd.”

Delivering a successful Olympic Games has provided the impetus the Mayor’s ambitious plans – such as heralding “a new Victorian age of building” to provide affordable housing, or increasing the capital’s creaking transport infrastructure by 33 per cent, or bringing “the village into the city” by creating 2000 ‘growing zones’ – all geared to make the capital the “best big city on earth,” said Harri.

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