18. BORIS JOHNSON
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TITLE London Mayor ORGANISATION Greater London Authority
The capital's comedy mayor frequently belies his intelligence, spouting anti-truck sentiment, apparently oblivious to the fact that London's position as a financial and cultural centre hinges on the movement of freight into and throughout it.
Let's look at some of the headlines Boris has generated this year: the launch of the cycle superhighways and bike hire scheme showed lithe thought about the safety concerns regarding cyclist/truck interaction; an inflation-busting increase in the Congestion Charge; and the withdrawal of the Alternative Fuel Discount.
OK, Boris did have some successes: he has taken a keen interest in cycle safety in London, allowing the trial of Trixi mirrors, which give truck drivers greater visibility of cyclists tucked up their nearside at junctions and phase three of theLF7 was postponed from October 2010 to January 2012 because of the recession.