Iain Dale asked yesterday morning on this site why Boris Johnson isn’t more visible during this election campaign. It was a good question, for at least two reasons. First, because it has been suggested (and was again yesterday, as it happens) – that David Cameron and George Osborne don’t want him playing a large part in the campaign. Second, because it has claimed that the truth is the other way round – in other words, that the Mayor doesn’t want to play a large part in Cameron and Osborne’s campaign. Readers will remember reports to that end last summer, when he was hesitating about returning to the Commons, which this site urged him to do.
So I thought I’d have a look where Boris has been recently – via the means of his new(ish) and non-Mayoral Twitter account. Yesterday, he was in Brentford and Isleworth and Finchley and Golders Green. On Wednesday, he was campaigning in Chippenham and Stroud. On Tuesday, he was doing the same in Twickenham and Ealing Central and Acton. Last Saturday, a week ago today, he was in Uxbridge. (Where else?) The day before that, he was out and about in Harrow West and Harrow East. The day before that, the venue was Croydon Central and Sutton…
Sure, none of these appearances grabbed the national media by the lapels. But that’s beside the point – which is that the Mayor is out and about doing his stuff, mostly but not exclusively in London. CCHQ claims that Boris is “getting lots of local coverage – front pages and so on”, adding that he will have been to every region by the time the campaign ends; will be doing Fleet Street interviews and an appearance on Marr, and will be prominent next week. “but there are still three weeks to go”. I’m sure that there is indeed some tension between the Mayor and the Chancellor, and that the former doesn’t want to be dragged down by the campaign if its unsuccessful – but he’s scarcely absent from it. As you can see.