Mayor spends £4,000 on taxis
Boris Johnson’s spent over £4,000 of taxpayer money on taxis since taking office just over a year ago it has been revealed.
The mayor’s expenses details, which were contained in a written answer to Assembly Members today, show the mayor also incurred over £320 for two claims listed as “newspaper delivered to Mayor’s home”.
The news of the mayor’s extensive taxi usage could dent his credibility with cyclists.
The expenses claims may also be seen to be at odds with Johnson’s pledge to run a “best value” Greater London Authority.
Johnson also managed to spend £99.50 for one return journey between City Hall and Elephant and Castle in May of last year – a distance of 1.7 miles.
Despite being chairman of Transport for London, it seems the Mayor failed to use any of the several buses which run between the two locations.
GLA rules state that “taxis should only be used when public transport is unavailable or impractical” and the individual concerned should reimburse the GLA “for any waiting time costs in excess of 20 minutes” except in exceptional circumstances.
The news comes in the wake of the dismissal of the deputy mayor over revelations that he had dined out with his girlfriend at the taxpayer’s expense.
The claims are particularly embarrassing to the Conservative Mayor because of the focus on Ken Livingstone’s administration’s financial management in the election campaign.
