Boris admits his failures to ‘level with Londoners’

Boris Johnson today admitted failing to deliver 10 election pledges as he made an unprecedented bid to put “trust” at the heart of the battle for City Hall.

The Mayor today unveiled what he described as a “brutally honest” progress report, listing every promise he made during the 2008 election and whether or not he delivered them.

Saying he delivered 91 per cent of his promises — 98 out of 108 — Mr Johnson challenged his mayoral rival Ken Livingstone to release his own report on his time at City Hall.

Despite highlighting his successes today, Mr Johnson will be attacked by opponents for failing to deliver pledges he put at the centre of his previous campaign; notably a promise to negotiate a no-strike deal with the transport unions.

Mr Johnson told the Standard: “I promised to run the most open and transparent administration in Britain, and that is why, with this brutally honest and unprecedented Progress Report, I am determined to level with Londoners.

“It is easy to make promises. It is hard work to keep them. And it is vital that Londoners can trust their Mayor to deliver on what they said they will, so any Mayor should do likewise and release a Progress Report, because the promises we make now will be judged on whether we kept our previous promises.”

Out of 108 pledges made in 2008 Mr Johnson concedes he has not met five. He admits to not having delivered five other promises but says he is “making progress”.

Promises delivered include scrapping bendy buses, holding a consultation on the western extension zone of the congestion charge and making it a “policing priority to tackle knife and gun crime and not accept defeat”.

He also said he had successfully upgraded the track and signals on the Tube to get a “faster, more reliable service”.

Failures include the no-strike deal, a bid to see the Tube open one hour later on Friday and Saturday nights, allowing Londoners to set up a direct debit to renew their travelcards, introducing an automatic one-off council tax rebate to encourage home insulation and seeking to reinstate tidal flow at the Blackwall tunnel to ease congestion.

On a number of these — such as the Blackwall tunnel — Mr Johnson said he had been forced to take a “revised approach” after analysis by experts.

On the key issue of the no-strike deal Mr Johnson put the blame for his failure squarely on the shoulders of the “militant union bosses”. There have been 23 strikes during Mr Johnson’s four years as Mayor.

A spokesman for Mr Livingstone said: “Boris Johnson promised to negotiate a no-strike deal, but he has failed to even meet with the unions, and as a result, the number of strikes has risen.”