Back in the summer of 2012, as ministers advised people to work from home during the Olympics to reduce congestion, Boris Johnson urged resistance. Denouncing the practice as a “skiver’s paradise“, he declared: “Some people will see the Games as an opportunity to work from home, in inverted commas. We all know that is basically sitting wondering whether to go down to the fridge to hack off that bit of cheese before checking your emails again. I don’t want to see too many of us doing that.”
Nor was this mere flippancy from the mayor. He added that working from home was “greatly overrated” and that “In my opinion people need to get in. They need to meet each other and they need to exchange ideas in an office environment.”
But it seems that Boris isn’t prepared to practice what he preaches. In an interview with me in this week’s NS, Ken Livingstone reveals that disgruntled Tories on the London Assembly have told him that the mayor plans to start working from home on Fridays. He said:
What I find interesting is that almost all the dirt I get on Boris comes from the Tory members on the [London] Assembly. They’re really angry because he’s decided he’s going to start working from home on Fridays.
When I spoke Boris’s official spokesman, he told me: “Unlike Mr Livingstone, this mayor has no plans to work from home on Fridays. Unlike Mr Livingstone, this mayor’s focus is on jobs and growth, infrastructure investment, housebuilding and crime. That has delivered Crossrail, the Northern Line extension, 150,000 apprenticeships, an 11 per cent fall in crime and more affordable homes, over 70,000 so far, than Mr Livingstone ever built.”
But he conceded that Boris had “occasionally” worked from home before again accusing Livingstone of hypocrisy. Another mayoral source said: “These are the tired ratings of someone who lost two elections to Boris. His views are total guff; Livingstone was often absent on a Friday.” But regardless of whether that is true, Boris, thanks to his earlier comments, is himself open to the charge of hypocrisy.
And whether working from home involves completing his planned biography of Churchill, plotting to stop George Osborne getting his hands on the Conservative leadership, or just gorging on cheese from the fridge, the revelation will only enhance the impression that he is a part-time mayor. One source close to City Hall said that he had “never known the place to be so quiet”.
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