Can he be serious?: Janet Street-Porter vs Boris Johnson

JSP: What do you think when our Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, says that she's too frightened to walk the streets of north London at night?

BJ: It's ridiculous that she said that. I send my kids on the Tube.

Two of your kids go to private schools and two to state ones.

It's now actually three to one.

Three go to private schools and one goes to a state school? [Boris is visibly uncomfortable with this line of questioning.]

Yeah ... The trouble is, I'm in Islington and, with the best will in the world, it's very hard to find a secondary school that I think will be OK for them.

You've decided to run for Mayor. If you're not successful, where does that leave you?

It's a possibility I don't even contemplate. I'm going to win it.

You haven't run anything.

I have.

You've been the editor of 'The Spectator'.

The Spectator is not "nothing". It's an £11m business.

How does your wife feel about Andrew Gimson's biography of you? ['Boris: The Rise of Boris Johnson' details Boris's affairs.]

I don't want to say anything.

Have you taken a vow of fidelity during your election campaign?

I think people in London don't give a monkey's.

But your wife might.

She's wonderful, and I really don't think the public cares about this. What they want is someone with energy and commitment and passion.

I agree, but they might want someone with all that energy and passion going into the job, and not into bonking someone down the road.

Janet, they want someone with energy and commitment and passion for the job, and that's what I can deliver.

In a political campaign, everything you've ever said or done is going to be picked up. Tell me, can you remember losing your virginity?

I can, but I just don't think it would be appropriate to talk about it. The public don't give a monkey's about it.

But they might be interested if you were having an affair. They might say, "He's supposed to be Mayor, and he's got this big family. How can he have a fling on the side?"

I'm going to work extremely hard to give complete dedication to the people of London.

Well, you've got to go out and say to ethnic communities that you take them seriously. There were some horrible remarks attributed to you that I fully accept were taken out of context, but people still quote those two lines, when you talked about "watermelon smiles" and "piccaninnies".

I'm glad you've said they've been taken out of context. But I've got to accept that people can take offence even for things that were taken out of context. I think, as Mayor of London, you've got to be ready to go the extra mile and show that the things people have said about you in the past are completely untrue.

You accepted responsibility for 'The Spectator' editorial about Liverpool wallowing in sentimentality after the death of Ken Bigley. A lot of people might have agreed with you, but it wasn't a great time to say it. And you didn't really apologise, Boris, did you?

I don't think this is the moment to go over things that I might have said as a journalist. You know what it's like: you've got readers to entertain, and you use words in a way that, when you're Mayor of a great city, you wouldn't do.

We live in an age now of political correctness.

We do, and society needs to take slightly less offence than it does. But I think that, with racism in particular, if a minority has suffered for a long time from serious, systematic discrimination, then it's not surprising that some people will be very sensitive to particular uses of language.

It must be really hard, having written in that free and easy style, to be so super-careful in this interview.

I'm not.

You are, Boris.

No! I'm not going to pasteurise myself. I can't lobotomise myself and, of course, I will say things that will provoke and offend people. The most difficult thing you've got to say as mayor is "No". It's the most difficult thing you've got to say to anybody. But you've got to incur a bit of unpopularity sometimes.

Has anyone ever said no to you? [Long pause.] Well ... [Boris squirms and appears really uncomfortable. He's clearly not happy.]

People have said no to me more times than ...

Have they? Because when I read through your life, it seems like most people are charmed by you – even the ones who want to hate you.

No, no, no. I've had a lot ... I've had my share of rejection.

Where? Tell me.

All my life.

No, Boris! Tell me.

It's true. Janet, you know it's true. All human beings suffer.

Like how? Give me an example so I can say to the readers of 'Marie Claire', "Boris has been rejected, just like you".

In love, in court, I've been sacked. I had a short and glorious career at The Times. I wasn't sacked, but it didn't work out.

But people don't really stand up to you. In your day-to-day life, do people say that you can't have things?

[Pause.] The biggest obstacle in my life at the moment is the challenge of removing the Mayor.

That involves a lot of work, but it doesn't involve someone coming along and saying to you, "Boris, you can't have this".

[Pause.] I sort of know what you're driving at, but ...

What I'm saying, Boris, is that you and I are quite similar – we're very spoiled. Only you're more charming than I am.

No, Janet.

You are about 5,000 times more charming than me.

Rubbish. I wouldn't say I'm charming. Believe me, I work incredibly hard.

You've earned a lot of money over the last few years from books and telly appearances. Are you earning as much money now you can't do them?

I don't want to go down that route, but the true answer is yes.

You earned shedloads before. I remember reading you've earned over £500,000 on top of your MP's salary.

You're exaggerating.

This is an edited version of an interview which will appear in 'Marie Claire', available from Thursday

Click here to read the Marie Claire interview

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