All of the times Boris Johnson has broken his promises
- Boris Johnson is the favourite to replace Theresa May as prime minister, with promises to quickly deliver Brexit and cut taxes.
- Johnson is using his record as former London mayor as evidence he will keep these promises.
Analysis of Johnson's record, however, reveals a long list of broken pledges.- Visit Business Insider's home page for more stories.
LONDON - Boris Johnson is the overwhelming favourite to replace Theresa May as prime minister after promising Conservative Party members that he will take Britain out of the EU on October 31 "deal or no deal."
Launching his bid for the job on Wednesday, Johnson said that his party should look at his record as mayor of London as proof that he will deliver on such pledges.
"We said we would do X, and we did X plus 10," Johnson said.
However, analysis of Johnson's time at City Hall, and his subsequent actions since returning to parliament, suggests that Conservative MPs have good reason to be sceptical about such pledges.
Heathrow
Promise broken: Not only did Johnson not lie down in front of the bulldozers, but when the House of Commons vote on Heathrow expansion took place, Johnson engineered himself a foreign trip to ensure he wouldn't be able to take part in the vote. Following the trip, which cost taxpayers some £20,000, Johnson has now reportedly told Conservative MPs that he will not scrap expansion at Heathrow.
Tax cuts
Promise broken: It later emerged that the £445 claim was based on imagined savings compared to what his campaign assumed Boris's then rival, Ken Livingstone, would have raised council tax by, rather than a promise for an actual further cut of that amount.
Rough sleeping
Promise broken: Rough sleeping rose by 130% in London over the course of his time in office.
Police Officers
Promise broken: The number of police officers in London actually fell by about 1,000 over his two terms as mayor. Pushed on his failure to increase police numbers back in 2013, Boris claimed that any suggestion he had actually promised 1,000 additional police officers was a "wilful misconstruction".
Ticket Offices
His 2008 manifesto promised there would "always [be] a manned ticket office at every station."
Promise broken: Johnson went on to close all of the ticket offices remaining on the London Underground.
Tube strikes
Promise broken: Boris did not even attempt to broker such a deal and consistently refused to meet with Tube union leaders while he was mayor. The strikes continued.
Fares
Promise broken: In the first year after being re-elected, Boris increased fares by on average 4.2% and then raised them in line with inflation in subsequent years. Overall the cost of a single bus fare increased by two-thirds since Johnson was first elected.
Bringing back bus conductors
Promise broken: Boris spent hundreds of millions of pounds commissioning a new fleet of "Routemaster-style" buses. However, safety fears meant that all the promised 'open rear platforms' on the buses were fitted with doors. The promised old-fashioned bus conductors were never re-hired due to the fact that Oyster and contactless cards made their job obsolete. Instead, health and safety officers were positioned on the rear platforms. Even these were largely phased out under Johnson due to staffing costs. On most routes, at most times, the rear platforms on the new buses remained shut while buses were in motion.
Congestion
Promise broken: Congestion increased significantly once he became mayor. Average vehicle delays in central London increased by 20% at peak time in the mornings and 38% at peak time in the evenings since 2008, while average speeds decreased by around 9%.
Congestion Charge
Promise broken: Boris raised the congestion charge in both his first and second terms.
Bike hire scheme
Promise broken: Boris's promise to bring a bike hire scheme to London "at no cost to the taxpayer" was not delivered, either in his original sponsorship deal with Barclays, or in his subsequent deal with Santander. The scheme continues to operate at a loss to taxpayers.
Fire service
Promise broken: Boris closed ten fire stations across London and removed 27 fire engines from service. Fire response times rose in many areas across London.
Black taxis
Promise made: In 2012 Boris also promised to set up a "cabbies' cabinet" to deal with the concerns of London taxi drivers.
Promise broken: Plans for a formal cabbies' cabinet were scrapped in 2013. City Hall's relationship with the London taxi trade continued to deteriorate, culminating in large and disruptive protests both inside and outside City Hall.
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