Charming rogue runs for mayor

The week's news at a glance.

London

Outspoken Tory politician Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, known as Boris, announced this week that he is running for mayor of London. Three years ago, Johnson, a journalist/novelist/member of Parliament/lecturer/man about town, was fired from a Conservative Party position for lying about an affair. Since then, he has been a fixture on television and radio talk shows and has written a weekly column in the Daily Telegraph. Some of his more memorable bons mots were aimed at former Prime Minister Tony Blair, whom he described as “a mixture of Harry Houdini and a greased piglet.” He once said, “Nailing Blair is like trying to pin jelly to a wall.” Johnson is given good odds to beat the current mayor, socialist Ken Livingstone, known as “Red Ken.”

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