A referendum (also known as a plebiscite or a ballot question) is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of direct democracy.

Terminology

The word ''plebiscite'' comes from the Latin ''plebiscita'', which originally meant a decree of the ''Concilium Plebis'', the popular assembly of the Roman Republic. ''Referendums'' and ''referenda'' are both commonly used as plurals of ''referendum''. However, the use of ''referenda'' is deprecated by the Oxford English Dictionary, which advises that:

In the United States, a plebiscite is typically known as an initiative when originating in a petition of ordinary citizens, and as a referendum only if it consists of a proposal referred to voters by the legislature. A plebiscite can be considered a kind of election and is often referred to as such in the U.S. (an ''election'' literally means a choice). In other countries, the term ''election'' is often reserved for events in which elected representatives are chosen.

Procedure and status

In a first classification by necessity, a referendum may be mandatory, that is, the law (usually the constitution) directs authorities to holding referendums on specific matters (such is the case in amending most constitutions, or impeaching heads of state as well as ratifying international treaties) and are usually binding. A referendum can also be facultative, that is it can be initiated at the will of a public authority (President of the Republic in France and Romania or the Government/Parliament in Greece or Spain) or at the will of the citizens (a petition). It can be binding/ non-binding.

A foundational referendum or plebiscite may be drafted by a constituent assembly before being put to voters. In other circumstances a referendum is usually initiated either by a legislature or by citizens themselves by means of a petition. The process of initiating a referendum by petition is known as the popular or citizens initiative. In the United States the term ''referendum'' is often reserved for a direct vote initiated by a legislature while a vote originating in a petition of citizens is referred to as an "initiative", "ballot measure" or "proposition."

In countries in which a referendum must be initiated by parliament, it is sometimes mandatory to hold a binding referendum on certain proposals, such as constitutional amendments. In countries, such as the United Kingdom, in which referendums are neither mandatory nor binding there may, nonetheless, exist an unwritten convention that certain important constitutional changes will be put to a referendum and that the result will be respected.

By nature of their effects, referendums may be either binding or non-binding. A non-binding referendum is merely consultative or advisory. It is left to the government or legislature to interpret the results of a non-binding referendum and it may even choose to ignore them. This is particularly the case in states that follow Westminster conventions of parliamentary sovereignty. In New Zealand, for example, citizen-initiated referendum (CIR) questions are broad statements of intent, not detailed laws. Following a referendum vote, parliament itself has the sole power to draft, debate and pass enabling legislation if it so chooses, and thus far, New Zealand governments have chosen to ignore completely two of the three proposals that have succeeded in forcing a vote since the CIR device was created in 1993. The third, a series of proposals about criminal justice, prompted some minor reforms only; it too was largely ignored. Matt Qvortrup in his ''Supply-side Politics'' (Centre for Policy Studies 2007) argues that this led to a disuse of the New Zealand device. While three petitions were launched in 2007, there was only one in 2004 and 2005, and none in 2006 and 2008 thus far. Only one of these have yet achieved the necessary signature target to force a vote, the overwhelming result (87% opposed) of which was largely ignored by the government. However, according to the New Zealand Election Study, 77 percent of voters believe that the citizen initiated referendum make the politicians more accountable. Trust in politicians has grown by almost 20 percent since the introduction of the device, although that can be more plausibly attributed to the change in electoral system that occurred at the same time.

In most referendums it is sufficient for a measure to be approved by a simple majority of voters in order for it to be carried. However, a referendum may also require the support of a super-majority, such as two-thirds of votes cast. In Lithuania certain proposals must be endorsed by a three-quarters majority (among them, any proposal to amend article 148 of the Lithuanian Constitution, which states, "Lithuania is an independent and democratic republic").

In some countries, including Italy, there is also a requirement that there be a certain minimum turn-out of the electorate in order for the result of a referendum to be considered valid. This is intended to ensure that the result is representative of the will of the electorate and is analogous to the quorum required in a committee or legislature.

The franchise in a referendum is not necessarily the same as that for elections. For example, in Ireland, only citizens may vote in a constitutional referendum, whereas citizens of the United Kingdom are also entitled to vote in general elections.

Referendums by country

Australia

Approval in a referendum is necessary in order to amend the Australian constitution. A bill must first be passed by both houses of Parliament or, in certain limited circumstances, by only one house of Parliament, and is then submitted to a referendum. If a majority of those voting, as well as separate majorities in each of a majority of states, (and where appropriate a majority of people in any affected state) vote in favour of the amendment, it is presented for Royal Assent, given in the Queen's name by the Governor-General. Due to the specific mention of referendums in the Australian constitution, non-constitutional referendums are usually termed plebiscites in Australia.

Brazil

Three nationwide referendums were held so far in Brazilian history.

In 1961, the country had just adopted the parliamentary government system, but in a referendum held in 1963, the Brazilian population was consulted about which government system should be withheld in the country and it was decided to have Brazil return to a Presidential system.

In 1993, another referendum to decide Brazil's government system was held. Voters could choose between keep the presidential republic system, adopt a parliamentary republic system, or adopt a parliamentary monarchy system. The majority of voters opined to maintain the current presidential government system.

In 2005 a referendum was held to consult the population about their opinion on the possibility to forbid the sale and civilian possession of firearms and ammunition nationwide. Most of voters declared themselves contrary to the ban and the laws regarding commerce and ownership of weapons in the country remained unaltered.

Canada

Referendums are rare in Canada and only three have ever occurred at the federal level. The most recent was a referendum in 1992 on a package of proposed constitutional measures known as the Charlottetown Accord. Although the Constitution of Canada does not expressly require that amendments be approved by referendum, some argue that, in light of the precedent set by the Charlottetown Accord referendum, this may have become a constitutional convention.

A referendum can also occur at the provincial level. The 1980 and 1995 referendums on the secession of Québec are notable cases. In conjunction with the provincial election in 2007, the province of Ontario voted on a mixed-member proportional representation electoral system and British Columbia held two consecutive referendums on BC-STV in 2005 and 2009. In 2011 British Columbia held yet another referendum against a newly imposed HST tax. The results ended up making British Columbia the first province to overturn the harmonization of provincial and federal taxes.

Chile

There have been four plebiscites and one "consultation" in Chilean history. In 1925, a plebiscite was held over a new constitution that would replace a semi-parliamentary system with a presidential one. The "Yes" vote won overwhelmingly, with 95% of the vote.

In 1978, after the United Nations protested against Pinochet's régime, the country's military government held a national consultation, which asked if people supported Pinochet's rule. The "Yes" vote won with 74%, although the results have been questioned.

Another constitutional plebiscite was held in 1980. The "Yes" won with 68.5%, prolonging Pinochet's term until 1989 and replacing the 1925 Constitution with a new one still used today. The results of this plebiscite have also been questioned by Pinochet's opponents, because of the lack of voters registration.

In a historical plebiscite held in 1988, 56% voted to end the military régime. The next year, yet another plebiscite was held for constitutional changes for the transition to a democratic government (the "Yes" vote won with 91%).

There have been several referendums in individual municipalities in Chile since the return to civilian rule in 1990. A referendum, which took place on 2006 in Las Condes, over the construction of a mall was noteworthy for being the first instance in Chilean history where electronic voting machines were used.

Costa Rica

October 7, 2007 the first referendum held in Costa Rica was to approve or reject the free trade agreement with Central America, Dominican Republic (Costa Rica already has FTAs with the latter) and the United States known as the Dominican Republic – Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA).

It was very narrowly approved (49.030 votes). Results were 51.62% voted in favour and 48.38% against it. It is currently the only free trade agreement in the world that has been approved on a referendum.

From 2008 to 2010 conservative groups, linked to religious institutions, managed to collect 150,000 signatures to call a referendum to decline unions between same-sex couples. The Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE) had scheduled the consultation on December 5, 2010.

However, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court rejected the referendum stating that "The rights of minorities that arise from anti-majoritarian claims can not be subjected to a referendum process which the majority imposes". This consideration supports the main argument of those who rejected the consultation considered a violation of human rights, among these gay groups and humanitarian actors.

The Board further considered that "people who have sex with same sex are a group at disadvantage and discrimination, which requires the support of public authorities for the recognition of their constitutional rights or other legislation". Decisions of the Constitutional Court are final so the ruling stopped the referendum and opened to the Congress the opportunity to continue discussing the bill on the recognition of homosexual unions.

Denmark

In Denmark, referendums are held every time new treaties of the European Union have to be approved. One sixth of the parliamentary members can force a referendum in certain cases, one third in all cases. Because Denmark has a multiparty system, this has happened. However, it has been the norm to hold a referendum with every new EU treaty, even when more than five sixths can be found. Recently, the Danish government was highly criticized when it did not hold a referendum regarding the controversial Lisbon treaty.

The Constitution of Denmark can be changed only after a referendum.

The present location of the border with Germany was determined by a referendum in 1920 after the German capitulation. See Schleswig.

Egypt

On 19 March 2011 a constitutional referendum was held in Egypt, following the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. The reforms made it easier for candidates to run for president, limited the number of presidential terms to two four-year periods, and ensured judicial monitoring of elections.

Hong Kong

Due to discontent towards the proposal of political reform made by the Hong Kong government, the Civic Party and the League of Social Democrats joined together to carry out "Five Constituencies Referendum" in early 2010, by having one Legislative Councillors(from either one of the parties) in each constituency resigned, forcing the government to carry out a by-election, thus giving a chance for all voters to show their will towards universal suffrage and the abolishment of functional constituencies .Quite often, it is refereed as "De facto referendum".

The Basic Law of Hong Kong does not provide for official referenda, but the pan-democrats hope that by returning the resignees to the Legislative Council, on their manifesto of real political reform in Hong Kong and the abolition of functional constituencies, the election can be seen as a de-facto referendum and an endorsement of these issues.

The original five pan-democrat Legislative Councillors were re-elected, the turnout was much lower than the expectation of the two parties, due to the suppression of pro-Beijing Camp.

Iraq

The current Constitution of Iraq was approved by referendum on 15 October 2005, two years after the United States-led invasion. The constitution was designed to shift crucial decisions about government, the judiciary and human rights to a future national assembly. It was later modified to provide for the establishment of a committee by the parliament to be elected in December 2005 to consider changes to the constitution in 2006.

Ireland

The current Constitution of Ireland was adopted by plebiscite on 1 July 1937. In Ireland, every constitutional amendment must be approved by referendum; 30 such referendums have occurred so far (from the enactment of the current constitution to the end of 2009). Constitutional amendments are first adopted by both Houses of the Oireachtas (parliament), submitted to a referendum, and are signed into law by the President. The role of the president is merely ceremonial: she cannot refuse to sign into law an amendment that has been approved in a referendum. The constitution also provides for a referendum on an ordinary law, known as an 'ordinary referendum'. Such a referendum can take place only under special circumstances, and none have yet occurred. The closest referendum result was 1995's vote to legalise divorce - 50.3% voted "Yes" (to legalise divorce) and 49.7% voted "No." Only Ireland held a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon.

Iceland

Iceland held a referendum on 6 March 2010, to vote for whether or not to repay the Icesave debt to United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The people voted against repaying the debt.

Italy

The constitution of Italy provides for two kinds of binding referendums.

A legislative referendum can be called in order to abrogate a law totally or partially, if requested by 500,000 electors or five regional councils. This kind of referendum is valid only if at least a majority of electors goes to the polling station. It is forbidden to call a referendum regarding financial laws or laws relating to pardons or the ratification of international treaties.

A constitutional referendum can be called in order to approve a constitutional law or amendment only when it has been approved by the Houses (Chamber of Deputies and Senate of the Republic) with a majority of less than two thirds in both or either House, and only at the request of one fifth of the members of either House, or 500,000 electors or five Regional Councils. A constitutional referendum is valid no matter how many electors go to the polling station. Any citizen entitled to vote in an election to the Chamber of Deputies may participate in a referendum.

Malta

There are three types of referendums in Malta; these are Constitutional, Consultative and Abrogative Referendums. Constitutional Referendums are binding and is set out in the Constitution and in practice it would only take place to increase the life time of the incumbent legislature. This type of Referendum in Malta in effect has never taken place. The second provision is for Consultative Referendums. These can either take place prior to the assent of a bill in the House of Representatives or following the parliamentary procedure in a form of a conditional clause in the said bill. In the former case it would not legally bind Parliament to approve the said legislation irrelevant of the result of the said referendum, however the latter case, it would be conventionally binding on the President to promulgate the bill into law. Throughout the History of Malta there has been five referendums on a national level. There has been however one regional referendum for Gozo in 1973 and further local Referendums within Local Council jurisdictions. The Final form of Referendums; i.e. Abrogative Referendums is provided for in the Referenda Act even though it has never been utilized and if invoked and successful can abrogate pieces of legislation barring some exceptions notably financial and constitutional law.

Morocco

There have been several referendums in Morocco. Most of which were related to the Moroccan constitution. Since he became king of Morocco, King Mohammed VI has led a lot of reforms that made Morocco an exception from all the other Arab countries. On February 20, 2011, Thousands took to the streets of Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier and Marrakesh in peaceful protests demanding a new constitution, a change in government and an end to corruption. During a march on Hassan II Avenue in the capital, Rabat, demonstrators demanded a new constitution to bring more democracy to the country. They shouted slogans calling for economic opportunity, education reform, better health services, and help in coping with the rising cost of living. On March 9, King Mohammed VI made a speech that was described as a "historical" speech in which he announced several reforms including a new constitution to the country. In a televised speech on Friday, 17 June, King Mohammed VI announced a series of constitutional reforms, to be put to a national referendum on 1 July. The proposed reforms would give the prime minister and the parliament more executive authority, and would make Berber an official language in Morocco, together with Arabic. The proposal would empower the prime minister with the authority to appoint government officials and to dissolve the parliament - the powers previously held by the king. However, the king would remain the military commander-in-chief and would retain his position as the chair of the Council of Ministers and the Supreme Security Council, the primary bodies responsible for the security policy. A new constitutional provision would also confirm the king's role as the highest religious authority in the country. Although most people were celebrating among the protesters after the King's speech, the leaders of the 20 February Movement rejected the proposals as insufficient and called for continuing protests on 19 June 2011. On 29 June 2011, the protesters called for a boycott of the referendum. The referendum was held on June 1, and almost all Moroccans said yes to it with a "98% yes" "2% No" turnout.

Netherlands

In principle, national referendums in the Netherlands are not possible by law. However, from 2002 until 2005, there was a Temporary Referendum Law in place, which allowed for non-binding referendums, known in Dutch as ''Volksraadpleging'' ("People's Consultation"), to be organised for laws already approved by the House of Representatives. No referendum was called based on this law.

In order to hold the 2005 referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, a different law was temporarily put in place. That referendum was the first national referendum in the Netherlands in 200 years and it was the result of an initiative proposal by parliamentarians Farah Karimi (Greens), Niesco Dubbelboer (Labour) and Boris van der Ham (Democrats).

New Zealand

New Zealand has two types of referendum. Government referendums are predominantly about alcohol policy (although none has been held recently) or constitutional issues. However, there are referendums on other issues. Furthermore, constitutional issues, such as the establishment of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, may be done without a referendum. New Zealand also has provision for citizens-initiated referendums, although these are non-binding. The Prime Minister, John Key, has said he will work to raise the number of times referendums are used.

Norway

The Norwegian Constitution does not mention refendums at all, and as such, referendums are not a part of Norwegian political practice. However, six advisory referendums have been held in Norway, most notably, the referendums on Norwegian EU membership, and the referendum for dissolving the union with Sweden. It is worth noting that these referendums, and potential future referendums, although legitimate as part of Norwegian constitutional convention, will not have any ''legal binding'': They will merely be advisory, and the final decision will be taken by the Norwegian parliament, who may choose (albeit unlikely) to disregard the will of the Norwegian people as expressed through the referendum.

Portugal

In Portugal, a Referendum is a determined proposition presented by the Government, Citizens or Political Organizations that is submitted to the popular pronouncement through a national ''election''. Until now, there were already three Referendums: abortion, in 1998, when the "No" won; regionalization, in 1998, when the "No" won; abortion, in 2007, where the "Yes" won. This referendum was asked because the first referendum on this issue had a low turnout.

Romania

Under the Romanian Constitution of 1991, revised in 2003, there are three situations in which referendums can be held. Article 90 of the Constitution establishes a facultative and non-binding referendum, which the President can initiate on matters of principle. Article 95 establishes a mandatory and binding referendum for the impeachment of the President in case he is deemed guilty of disobeying the Constitution. Article 151 also establishes a mandatory and binding referendum on approving Constitutional amendments. This last provision has been used twice: in adopting the Romanian Constitution in 1991, and amending it in 2003.

Serbia

The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia was adopted on a referendum held in 28–29 October 2006. The constitutional referendum passed with 3,521,724 voting a 53.04% majority. 3,645,517 or 54.91% voted on the referendum, which made it legitimate.

Singapore

According to the Constitution of Singapore, a referendum can be held in a few circumstances, including situations when a constitutional amendment passed by the Parliament is rejected by the President, or when the nation's sovereignty needs to be decided (i.e. merger or incorporation into other countries). There has been only one referendum in Singapore to date, which is the 1962 national referendum, deciding on the merger of Singapore into Malaysia. Singapore was eventually forced to secede from Malaysia and declared independence, which had not even been an option in the referendum, on 9 August 1965. Hence, Singapore became the only country to become independent against its own will.

Sweden

The Constitution of Sweden provides for both binding and non-binding referendums. Since the introduction of parliamentary democracy, six referendums have been held: the first was about alcohol prohibition in 1922, and the most recent was about euro membership in 2003. All have been non-binding, consultative referendums. Two, in 1957 and 1980, were multiple-choice referendums.

===Switzerland=== In Switzerland Swiss voters can demand a binding referendum at federal, cantonal and municipal level. They are a central feature of Swiss political life. It is not the government's choice whether or when a referendum is held, but it is a legal procedure regulated by the Swiss constitution. There are two types of referendums:

Facultative referendum: Any federal law, certain other federal resolutions, and international treaties that are ongoing in nature, or any change to Swiss law may be subject to referendum if at least 50,000 people or eight cantons have petitioned to do so within 100 days. Within cantons and municipalities, the required number of people is smaller, and there may be additional causes for a facultative referendum, e.g., expenditures that exceed a certain amount of money. The facultative referendum is the most common type of referendum, and it is mostly carried out by political parties or by interest groups.

Obligatory referendum: There must be a referendum on any amendments to the constitution and on any joining of a multinational community or organization for collective security. In many municipalities, expenditures that exceed a certain amount of money also are subject to the obligatory referendum. Constitutional amendments are proposed by the parliament or by the cantons or by citizens' initiatives. Citizen's initiatives at the federal level need to collect 100,000 valid signatures within 18 months, and must not contradict international laws or treaties. Often, parliament elaborates a counter-proposal to an initiative, leading to a multiple-choice referendum. Very few such initiatives pass the vote, but more often, the parliamentary counter proposal is approved.

The possibility of facultative referendums forces the parliament to search for a compromise between the major interest groups. In many cases, the mere threat of a facultative referendum or of an initiative is enough to make the parliament adjust a law.

The referendums are said, by their adversaries, to slow politics down. On the other hand, empirical scientists, e.g. Bruno S. Frey among many, show that this and other instruments of citizens' participation, direct democracy, contribute to stability and happiness.

The votes on referendums are always held on a Sunday, typically three or four times a year, and in most cases, the votes concern several referendums at the same time, often at different political levels (federal, cantonal, municipal). Referendums are also often combined with elections. The percentage of voters is around 40% to 50%, unless there is an election. The decisions made in referendums tend to be conservative. Citizens' initiatives are usually not passed. The federal rule and referendums have been used in Switzerland since 1848.

United Kingdom

Although Acts of Parliament may permit referendums to take place, the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty means any Act of Parliament giving effect to a referendum result could be reversed by a subsequent Act of Parliament. As a result, referendums in the United Kingdom cannot be constitutionally binding, although they will usually have a persuasive political effect.

Referendums are rare; only two have been put to the entire UK electorate. The first was the United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum, 1975, which was held two years after British accession to the European Economic Community to gauge support for continued membership. The second was the United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum, 2011. This was to vote on changing the 'First Past the Post' system to an alternative electoral system, the Alternative Vote.

Referendums have been held in individual parts of the United Kingdom on issues relating to devolution in Scotland and Wales, an elected Mayor of London and a Greater London Authority for Greater London, a regional assembly for the North-East of England and the constitutional status and governance of Northern Ireland. Since 1973, the year of the first such plebiscite, there have been nine major referendums.

In 2004, Her Majesty's Government promised a UK-wide referendum on the new European Constitution, but this was postponed in 2005 following the defeats of the French and Dutch referendums. Due to the replacement of the European Constitution with the Treaty of Lisbon, there was no obligation for a referendum. Referendums have also been proposed, but not held, on the replacement of the pound sterling with the euro as the currency of the United Kingdom. The present Scottish Government, a Scottish National Party administration, wishes to hold a referendum on Scottish Independence between late 2013 and 2016. As it is now a majority government, the referendum can pass through the Scottish Parliament unhindered. The Westminster government has also indicated that it will facilitate such a referendum.

At the local level, the Government has put proposals for directly-elected mayors to several towns by referendum. The 1972 Local Government Act also contains a little-used provision that allows non-binding local referendums on any issue to be called by small groups of voters. Strathclyde Regional Council held a postal referendum in 1994 on whether control of water and sewerage services should be transferred to appointed boards: this was largely a political tactic, since this was the policy of the UK Government at the time. The UK Parliament enacted the legislation anyway, and it came into force on 1 April 1996.

United States

In the United States, the term "referendum" typically refers to a popular vote originated by petition to overturn legislation already passed at the state or local levels (mainly in the western United States). In industrial cities and regions, it refers to internal, union organization in terms of electing delegates or approving a collective bargaining agreement. By contrast, "initiatives" and "legislative referrals" consist of newly drafted legislation submitted directly to a popular vote as an alternative to adoption by a legislature. Collectively, referendums and initiatives in the United States are commonly referred to as ballot measures, initiatives, or propositions.

There is no provision for the holding of referendums at the federal level in the United States; indeed, there is no national electorate of any kind. The United States constitution does not provide for referendums at the federal level. A constitutional amendment would be required to allow it. However, the constitutions of 24 states (principally in the West) and many local and city governments provide for referendums and citizen's initiatives.

Uruguay

The Uruguayan constitution allows citizens to challenge laws approved by Parliament by use of a referendum or to propose changes to the Constitution by the use of a plebiscite. This right has been used a few times in the past 15 years: to confirm an amnesty to members of the military who violated human rights during the military regime (1973–1985), to stop privatization of public utilities companies, to defend pensioners' incomes, and to protect water resources.

Other countries

Brazil: In October 2005, 122 million voters decided to continue to allow the sale of firearms in Brazil. This referendum was offered by the government as part of a violence minimization initiative known as ''project disarmament.

Croatia held an independence referendum in May, 1991, with a turnout of 80%, of which 93% of the voters opted for independence.

East Timor, formerly governed by Indonesia, had a referendum on 30 August 1999, in which voters chose either to become a Special Autonomous Region within Indonesia, or for independence. Around 79% of voters opted for independence.

Eritrea: In April 1993 nearly 1 million voters (a quarter of the population), cast ballots to become "sovereign and independent" of Ethiopia. This vote was the result of thirty years of war by Eritreans during their War of Independence. The result was a vote for independence by 99.8% of the voters.

France: The practice of referendums for tough decisions appeared with Charles De Gaulle's Fifth Republic, in order to overcome the Parliament. A referendum can be called by the President for constitutional changes, treaty ratification, laws concerning the administration or the territory. The political risks involved made the practice rare. Most constitutional revisions went through the super-majority of the Parliament in Congress. Therefore, a procedure of popular initiative, backed by a handful of MPs, is being put in place.

Iran: In 1979 and after the Islamic Revolution had toppled the Iranian monarchy, a referendum was held to choose the future governing system of the country. The question was a simple yes or no to the Islamic Republic, a system which combines direct representation with religious authority. The Islamic Republic was established after more than 98% of the population voted yes.

'''Kashmir (a state within the territory of India)''' The Security Council of United Nations on the complaint of Government of India concerning the dispute over the State of Jammu and Kashmir passed resolution 47(1948), “that both India and Pakistan desire that the question of the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan should be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite”. It recommended to the Governments of India and Pakistan to restore peace and order in Jammu and Kashmir and provide full freedom to all subjects of the state, to vote on the question of accession.

Puerto Rico: Three Puerto Rican status referendums (in 1967, 1993, and 1998) have taken place in Puerto Rico to determine whether the insular area should become an independent nation (comprising a republic and an associated republic), apply for statehood, or maintain commonwealth (''Estado Libre Asociado'') status. Remaining a commonwealth has been the result of all three referendums. There was also a 2005 referendum (Resolution 64) to determine whether the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico should be restructured (among other changes to become unicameral).

Pakistan:General Pervez Musharraf held a referendum on 30 April 2002 to legitimize his presidency and assure its continuance after the approaching restoration of democracy. He thus extended his term to five years after the October 2002 elections. The voter turnout was 80 percent by most estimates, amidst claims of irregularities. A few weeks later, Musharraf went on TV and apologized to the nation for "irregularities" in the referendum.

Singapore: On 1 September 1962, a referendum was held to put the terms of the merger with Malaya to a direct vote by the citizens of Singapore. (The decision to merge with Malaya had already been made.) There were three choices: 1) To merge with Malaya, having autonomy in labour and education; 2) To merge with Malaya, having same status as the other states in Malaya; 3) To merge with Malaya, having terms similar to those of the Borneo territories. Option #1 won with 71%. Two years after the merger, Malaysia expelled Singapore.

Slovenia: There was an independence referendum on 23 December 1990. The turnout was a massive 88.5% of all voters of which 95% that took part voted for the independence. It was the first such referendum in one of the then Yugoslavian republics and as such marked a turning point in the history of many nations. The results were announced on 26 December and on 25 June 1991 Slovenian parliament passed an independence law proclaiming Slovenia a sovereign country. This was followed by a ten day war in which Slovenian forces drove the Yugoslavian peoples army out of the country.

Spain: In 1976 a referendum was held to determine if citizens wanted to change the political system (dictatorship) or not to change it, after the death of Francisco Franco. Spaniards chose (94%) to change ("Referéndum para la reforma política", literally «Referendum for political reformation»). Also, in 1986 another referendum approved Spain's membership of NATO.

Russian Constitution of 1993 was adopted by controversial referendum.

Venezuela: The 1999 constitution, created by the Chávez government, and approved by referendum, brought in the concept of requiring referendums for constitutional changes, as well as providing for recall referendums of elected officials (which require petitions of a minimum percentage of voters to be submitted). In the Venezuelan recall referendum of 2004 voters determined whether or not Hugo Chávez, the current President of Venezuela, should be recalled from office. The result of the referendum was to not recall Chávez.

Thailand: On 4 September 2008, amidst hundreds of thousands of protesters demanding the government resign, Thailand's premier Samak Sundaravej's government approved the idea of a referendum to ask the Thai electorate if it wanted to keep the government or not. The plebiscite was not held because it was certain to legitimize unfairly the government's standing and policies.

Multiple-choice referendums

A referendum usually offers the electorate only two choices, either to accept or reject a proposal, but this need not necessarily be the case. In Switzerland, for example, multiple choice referendums are common; two multiple choice referendums held in Sweden, in 1957 and 1980, offered voters a choice of three options; and in 1977 a referendum held in Australia to determine a new national anthem was held in which voters were presented with four choices.

A multiple choice referendum poses the problem of how the result is to be determined if no single option receives the support of an absolute majority (more than half) of voters. This can be resolved by applying voting systems designed for single winner elections to a multiple-choice referendum.

Swiss referendums get around this problem by offering a separate vote on each of the multiple options as well as an additional decision about which of the multiple options should be preferred. In the Swedish case, in both referendums the 'winning' option was chosen by the Single Member Plurality ("first past the post") system. In other words the winning option was deemed to be that supported by a plurality, rather than an absolute majority, of voters. In the 1977 Australian referendum the winner was chosen by the system of preferential instant-runoff voting.

Although California does not have deliberate multiple-choice referendums in the Swiss or Swedish sense (in which only one of several counter-propositions can be victorious, and the losing proposals are wholly null and void), it does have so many yes-or-no referendums at each Election Day that the State's Constitution provides a method for resolving inadvertent conflicts when two or more inconsistent propositions are passed on the same day. This is a de facto form of Approval Voting - i.e., the proposition with the most "yes" votes prevails over the others to the extent of any conflict.

Criticisms

Although some advocates of direct democracy would have the referendum become the dominant institution of government, in practice and in principle, in almost all cases, the referendum exists solely as a complement to the system of representative democracy, in which most major decisions are made by an elected legislature. An often cited exception is the Swiss canton of Glarus, in which meetings are held on the village lawn to decide on matters of public concern. In most jurisdictions that practice them, referendums are relatively rare occurrences and are restricted to important issues.

Advocates of the referendum argue that certain decisions are best taken out of the hands of representatives and determined directly by the people. Some adopt a strict definition of democracy, saying elected parliaments are a necessary expedient to make governance possible in the large, modern nation-state, though direct democracy is nonetheless preferable and the referendum takes precedence over Parliamentary decisions.

Other advocates insist that the principle of popular sovereignty demands that certain foundational questions, such as the adoption or amendment of a constitution, the secession of a state or the altering of national boundaries, be determined with the directly expressed consent of the people.

Advocates of representative democracy say referendums are used by politicians to avoid making difficult or controversial decisions.

Criticism of populist aspect

Critics of the referendum argue that voters in a referendum are more likely driven by transient whims than careful deliberation, or that they are not sufficiently informed to make decisions on complicated or technical issues. Also, voters might be swayed by strong personalities, propaganda and expensive advertising campaigns. James Madison argued that direct democracy is the "tyranny of the majority."

Some opposition to the referendum has arisen from its use by dictators such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini who, it is argued, used the plebiscite to disguise oppressive policies as populism. Hitler's use of plebiscites is argued as reason why, since World War II, there has been no provision in Germany for the holding of referendums at the federal level.

Patten's criticism

British politician Chris Patten summarized many of the arguments used by those who oppose the referendum in an interview in 2003 when discussing the possibility of a referendum in the United Kingdom on the European Union Constitution:

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Never-end-um

A further perceived flaw of the referendum is that, in some circumstances, the democratic spirit of the referendum may be flouted by the repeated submission to the referendum of a proposal until it is eventually endorsed, perhaps due to a low turn-out or public fatigue with the issue. This is especially a problem where a proposal may be difficult to reverse, such as secession from a larger country or the abolition of a monarchy. The repeated holding of a referendum on a single issue has been pejoratively referred to as a "never-end-um".

Many critics of the EU point to the Treaty of Nice's ratification procedure in Ireland, where the government submitted the Treaty to a referendum twice, getting the required "Yes" vote on the second attempt. This controversy was repeated during the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon.

Closed questions and the separability problem

Some critics of the referendum attack the use of closed questions. A difficulty which can plague a referendum of two issues or more is called the separability problem. If one issue is in fact, or in perception, related to another on the ballot, the imposed simultaneous voting of first preference on each issue can result in an outcome that is displeasing to most.

Undue limitations on regular government power

Several commentators have noted that the use of citizens' initiatives to amend constitutions has so tied the government to a mishmash of popular demands as to render the government unworkable. ''The Economist'' has made this point about the US State of California, which has passed so many referendums restricting the ability of the state government to tax the people and pass the budget that the state has become effectively ungovernable. Calls for an entirely new California constitution have been made.

Popular culture

In Steven Spielberg's 2002 film ''Minority Report'', based on a short story written by Philip K Dick, a referendum is held on 22 April 2054 on whether people should be arrested and judged for a murder they will commit in the future reported by people with pre-cognitive powers.

Sources

Emerson, P J. ''Defining Democracy'' puts both two-option and multi-option referendums into their historical context and suggests which are the more accurate measures of "the will of the people". The de Borda Institute is at http://www.deborda.org

Emerson Peter, ''Designing an All-Inclusive Democracy'' (Springer-Verlag, 2007), describes the Modified Borda Count (MBC), as well as the Quota Borda System (QBS) and the matrix vote.

The Federal Authorities of the Swiss Confederation, statistics (German). http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/17/03/blank/key/stimmbeteiligung.html

See also

History of direct democracy in the United States

List of politics-related topics

Political science

Referendums related to the European Union

Initiative

Initiative and referendum

United Nations in Kashmir

Independence referendum

Popular referendum

War referendum

Specific referendums

Arizona Proposition 204, 2006

Australian referendum, 1967 (Aboriginals)

Belfast Agreement (1998)

Bolivian gas referendum, 2004

Carinthian Plebiscite (1920)

Cypriot Annan Plan referendum, 2004

Edinburgh congestion charge (2005)

Kenyan constitutional referendum, 2005

Montenegrin independence referendum, 1992

Montenegrin independence referendum, 2006

Norwegian prohibition referendum, 1919

Norwegian continued prohibition referendum, 1926

Norwegian European Communities membership referendum, 1972

Norwegian European Union membership referendum, 1994

Panama Canal expansion referendum, 2006

Puerto Rico status referendums (1967, 1993, 1998)

Republic of China referendums

Serbian constitutional referendum, 2006

South African referendum, 1992

Tokelauan self-determination referendum, 2006

Venezuelan recall referendum, 2004

Referendums in Canada

* Alberta liquor plebiscite, 1957

* British Columbia aboriginal treaty referendum, 2002

* British Columbia electoral reform referendum, 2005

* British Columbia electoral reform referendum, 2009

* Charlottetown Accord

* List of Northwest Territories plebiscites

* Newfoundland referendums, 1948

* Northwest Territories division plebiscite, 1982

* Nunavut capital plebiscite, 1995

* Ontario electoral reform referendum, 2007

* Ontario prohibition plebiscite, 1894

* Ontario prohibition referendum, 1902

* Ontario prohibition referendum, 1919

* Ontario prohibition referendum, 1921

* Ontario prohibition referendum, 1924

* Prince Edward Island electoral reform referendum, 2005

* Quebec referendum, 1980

* Quebec referendum, 1995

* Saint John, New Brunswick ward plebiscite, 2007

Referendums in the United Kingdom

* United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum, 1975

* United Kingdom European Constitution referendum (''proposed'')

* United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum, 2011

* Northern England devolution referendums, 2004

* Northern Ireland Belfast Agreement referendum, 1998

* Northern Ireland sovereignty referendum, 1973

* Scottish devolution referendum, 1979

* Scottish devolution referendum, 1997

* Welsh devolution referendum, 1979

* Welsh devolution referendum, 1997

* Welsh devolution referendum, 2011

* Edinburgh congestion charge

* Greater London Authority referendum, 1998

Referendums related to European Union accession:

* Danish European Communities membership referendum, 1972

* Norwegian European Communities membership referendum, 1972

* Norwegian European Union membership referendum, 1994

* Polish European Union membership referendum, 2003

References

Category:Direct democracy Category:Elections

ar:استفتاء عام zh-min-nan:Kong-bîn tâu-phiò bs:Referendum bg:Референдум ca:Referèndum cs:Referendum cy:Refferendwm da:Folkeafstemning de:Referendum et:Referendum el:Δημοψήφισμα es:Referéndum eo:Referendumo eu:Erreferendum fa:همه‌پرسی fr:Référendum gd:Barail-fhuasgladh gl:Referendo ko:국민투표 hi:जनमत-संग्रह hr:Referendum id:Referendum is:Þjóðaratkvæðagreiðsla it:Referendum he:משאל עם ka:რეფერენდუმი kk:Плебисцит sw:Kura ya maoni lv:Referendums lt:Referendumas li:Referendum hu:Népszavazás mk:Референдум arz:استفتا ms:Pungutan suara nl:Volksraadpleging ja:住民投票 no:Folkeavstemning nn:Folkerøysting uz:Referendum pap:Referéndum pl:Referendum pt:Referendo ro:Referendum ru:Референдум scn:Referendum simple:Plebiscite sk:Referendum sl:Referendum szl:Absztimůng sr:Референдум sh:Referendum fi:Kansanäänestys sv:Folkomröstning tl:Reperendum th:การออกเสียงประชามติ tr:Referandum uk:Референдум ur:ریفرنڈم vi:Trưng cầu dân ý yi:רעפערענדום zh-yue:公投 zh:公民投票

name	Bill Cash
honorific-suffix	MP
office	Member of Parliament for Stone
term start	1 May 1997
majority	13,292 (28.1%)
predecessor	Constituency Created
office2	Member of Parliament for Stafford
term start2	3 May 1984
term end2	1 May 1997
predecessor2	Hugh Fraser
successor2	David Kidney
birth date	May 10, 1940
birth place	Finsbury, London, England
nationality	English
spouse	Bridget Mary Lee
party	Conservative
alma mater	Stonyhurst College and Lincoln College, Oxford
religion	Roman Catholic
footnotes	}}

William Nigel Paul Cash, usually known as Bill Cash (born on 10 May 1940, in London), is a British Conservative politician and Member of Parliament for Stone.

Personal life

Education

Cash was born to a political family, which included seven Liberal Members of Parliament, including John Bright. He was educated at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire before attending Lincoln College, Oxford where he took a BA in History. He qualified as a solicitor in 1967 and since 1979 has practised as a solicitor in his own account (i.e. he is not employed by a law firm or a member of a partnership).

He married Bridget Mary née Lee in 1965, and they have two sons, and a daughter. One of his sons is the controversial journalist William Cash. He lives at Upton Cresset Hall, near Bridgnorth, Shropshire.

Parliament

Cash entered Parliament in 1984, when he was elected as MP for Stafford at a by-election in May following the death of Sir Hugh Fraser. Since the 1997 election he has been MP for Stone, Staffordshire.

He has served on various parliamentary committees. He was elected unopposed as Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee on 8 September 2010. He has also served on the All-Party Committee on East Africa (1988 -), the All-Party Group for the Jubilee 2000 (1997–2000), but more notably the Select Committee on European Legislation (1985 -), and as chairman of the Conservative Backbench Committee on European Affairs 1989-1991. He is known as a strong eurosceptic and at one point was ringleader of a rebellion over the Maastricht treaty that almost brought down John Major's government. He was described by Kenneth Clarke as the most eurosceptic Member of Parliament. In 1993 he founded and is chairman of the eurosceptic European Foundation which was created during the Maastricht Rebellion, the funding for which he organised. During 1994-1995 Cash was member of the Tindemans group. He is currently Secretary of the European Reform Forum, and is a Vice-President of the Conservative Small Business Bureau (1986- ).

After he became leader, fellow Maastricht rebel Iain Duncan Smith gave him the post of shadow Attorney General in 2001, and in 2003 was made a spokesman on Constitutional Affairs but he returned to the backbenches later that year after Duncan Smith was ousted as party leader.

Expenses claims

Cash was cleared on appeal by former High Court judge and President of the Court of Appeal, the Rt Hon Sir Paul Kennedy, in February 2010 after it was reported on 28 May 2009, in the swirl of stories surrounding the 2009 Parliamentary Expenses scandal, that Cash had claimed £15,000 which he paid his daughter, Laetitia Cash, a prospective Conservative candidate, as rent for a Notting Hill flat, when he had a mortgaged flat of his own a few miles away, which his son Sam Cash was staying in rent-free. 'It was only for a year, she was getting married, she wasn't there. My other flat wasn't round the corner, it was in Westminster. It was done through the rules,' he said on ''Newsnight''.

The following day Cash announced that he had agreed to pay the money back. Cash was rejecting calls for his resignation and said he was hopeful of getting a fair hearing. David Cameron was said to have ordered Cash to co-operate or risk having the Conservative whip withdrawn

Cash faced a no-confidence vote by secret ballot by his constituency party on 2 July 2009. He was, however, re-selected with the overwhelming support over 98% of the vote. Cash also received a personal letter of support from Conservative leader David Cameron before the meeting thanking Cash for "the tireless contribution you make to the work of Parliament. You have a long record of serving your constituents with commitment and integrity".

Sir Paul Kennedy, in his letter to Cash regarding his appeal, wrote: "In my judgment there are special reasons why it would not be fair and equitable to require repayment of any money. They are that in 2004-05 you paid rent for accommodation. Such rent was recoverable under the Rules as they existed at the time unless there was some evidence of impropriety. There is no such evidence in your case."

References and publications

Black, A & C, ''Who's Who'', published annually in London.

Cash, William, ''Against a Federal Europe - The Battle for Britain'', London, 1991.

Cash, William, ''Europe: the crunch'', London, 1992.

External links

Bill Cash MP biography at the site of the Conservative Party

ePolitix.com - Bill Cash

Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Bill Cash MP

TheyWorkForYou.com - William Cash MP

The Public Whip - William Cash MP voting record

BBC News profile (30 March 2006)

billcashmp.co.uk Bill Cash's own website

References

{{s-ttl | title=Member of Parliament for Stone | years=1997–''present'' }}

Category:1940 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Category:Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies Category:English Roman Catholics Category:English solicitors Category:Old Stonyhursts Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs Category:UK MPs 1983–1987 Category:UK MPs 1987–1992 Category:UK MPs 1992–1997 Category:UK MPs 1997–2001 Category:UK MPs 2001–2005 Category:UK MPs 2005–2010 Category:UK MPs 2010–

sco:Bill Cash sv:Bill Cash

Name	Nigel Farage
Honorific-suffix	MEP
Office	Europe of Freedom and Democracy President
Term start	1 July 2009 (de facto)
Predecessor	(post established)
Office	Leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party
Term start	5 November 2010
Predecessor	Jeffrey Titford
Term start1	27 September 2006
Term end1	27 November 2009
Predecessor1	Roger Knapman
Successor1	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
Constituency mp2	South East England
Parliament2	European
Term start2	15 July 1999
Birth date	April 03, 1964
Birth place	Kent, England, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Party	UK Independence Party
Spouse	Gráinne Hayes (1988-?, divorced)Kirsten Mehr (1999-present)
Children	4
Alma mater	Dulwich College
Website	Nigel Farage MEP
Footnotes	}}

Nigel Paul Farage (; ; born 3 April 1964) is a British politician and is the Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), a position he previously held from September 2006 to November 2009. He is a current Member of the European Parliament for South East England and co-chairs the Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group.

Farage was a founding member of the UKIP, having left the Conservative Party in 1992 after they signed the Maastricht Treaty. Having unsuccessfully campaigned in European and Westminster parliamentary elections for UKIP since 1994, he gained a seat as an MEP for South East England in the 1999 European Parliament Election — the first year the regional list system was used — and was re-elected in 2004 and 2009. Farage describes himself as a libertarian and rejects the notion that he is a conservative.

In September 2006, Farage became the UKIP Leader and led the party through the 2009 European Parliament Election in which it received the second highest share of the popular vote, defeating Labour and the Liberal Democrats with over two million votes. However he stepped down in November 2009 to concentrate on contesting the Speaker John Bercow's seat of Buckingham in the 2010 general election.

At the 2010 General Election, Farage failed to unseat John Bercow and received only the third highest share of the vote in the constituency. Shortly after the polls opened on 6 May 2010, Nigel Farage was injured in an aircraft crash in Northamptonshire. The two-seated PZL-104 Wilga 35A had been towing a pro-UKIP banner when it flipped over and crashed shortly after takeoff. Both Farage and the pilot were hospitalised with non-life-threatening injuries.

In November 2010, Farage successfully stood in the 2010 UKIP leadership contest, following the resignation of its leader, Lord Pearson of Rannoch. Farage was also ranked 41st (out of 100) in ''The Daily Telegraph'''s Top 100 most influential right-wingers poll in October 2009, citing his media savvy and his success with UKIP in the European Elections. Farage was ranked 58th in the 2010 list compiled by Iain Dale and Brian Brivati for the Daily Telegraph.

Background

Farage was educated at Dulwich College before joining a commodity brokerage firm in London. He ran his own brokerage business from the early 1990s until 2002. In his early 20s Farage was diagnosed with testicular cancer but made a full recovery.

Farage has been married twice. He married Gráinne Hayes in 1988, with whom he had two children: Samuel (1989) and Thomas (1991). In 1999 he married Kirsten Mehr, a German national, by whom he has two more children, Victoria (born 2000) and Isabelle (born 2005).

Farage has also penned his own memoirs, entitled "Fighting Bull." It outlines the founding of UKIP and his personal and political life so far.

Political career

Conservative Party

Active in the Conservative Party from his school days, Farage left the party in 1992 when John Major's government signed the Treaty on European Union at Maastricht.

UKIP and the European Parliament

Farage became a founding member of UKIP in 1993.

He was elected to the European Parliament in 1999 and re-elected in 2004 and 2009. Farage is presently the leader of the thirteen-member UKIP contingent in the European Parliament, and co-leader of the multinational eurosceptic group, Europe of Freedom and Democracy.

UKIP party leadership

On 12 September 2006, Farage was elected leader of UKIP with 45% of the vote, 20% ahead of his nearest rival. He pledged to bring discipline to the party and to maximise UKIP's representation in local, parliamentary and other elections. In a PM programme interview on BBC Radio 4 that day he pledged to end the public perception of UKIP as a single-issue party and to work with allied politicians in the Better Off Out campaign, committing himself not to stand against the MPs who have signed up to that campaign (ten in all at this moment).

At his maiden speech to the UKIP conference on 8 October 2006, he told delegates that the party was "at the centre-ground of British public opinion" and the "real voice of opposition". Farage said: "We've got three social democratic parties in Britain — Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative are virtually indistinguishable from each other on nearly all the main issues" and "you can't put a cigarette paper between them and that is why there are nine million people who don't vote now in general elections that did back in 1992."

At 10pm on 19 October 2006, Farage took part in a three-hour live interview and phone-in with James Whale on national radio station talkSPORT. Four days later, Whale announced on his show his intention to stand as UKIP's candidate in the 2008 London Mayoral Election. Farage said that Whale "not only has guts, but an understanding of what real people think". However Whale later decided not to stand and UKIP was represented by Gerard Batten. He stood again for UKIP leadership in 2010 after his successor Lord Pearson stood down. On the 5th November 2010 it was announced Farage had won the leadership contest.

Westminster elections

Farage had unsuccessfully contested UK parliamentary elections for UKIP five times, both before and after his election as an MEP in 1999. Under the 2002 European Union decision to forbid MEPs from holding a dual mandate, if he was ever elected to the House of Commons, he would have to resign his seat as an MEP.

When he contested the Bromley & Chislehurst constituency in a May 2006 by-election, organised after the sitting MP representing it, eurosceptic Conservative Eric Forth, died, Farage came third, winning 8% of the vote, beating the Labour Party candidate. This was the second-best by-election result recorded by UKIP out of 25 results, and the first time since the Liverpool Walton by-election in 1991 that a party in government had been pushed into fourth place in a parliamentary by-election on mainland Britain.

2010 UK General election

On 4 September 2009 Farage resigned as leader of UKIP to concentrate on his campaign to become Member of Parliament for Buckingham at Westminster in the 2010 general election. He later told Times journalist Camilla Long that UKIP internal fights took up too much time.

He stood against Buckingham MP John Bercow, the newly elected Speaker of the House of Commons, despite a convention that the speaker, as a political neutral, is not normally challenged in his or her bid for re-election by any of the major parties.

On 6 May, on the morning the polls opened in the election, just before eight o'clock Farage was involved in a light aircraft crash, suffering injuries described as non-life-threatening. A spokesperson told the BBC that "it was unlikely Mr Farage would be discharged from hospital today [6 May] Although his injuries were originally described as minor, his sternum and ribs were broken, and his lung punctured. The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said that the aeroplane was towing a banner, which caught in the tailplane, forcing the nose down.

Farage came third with 8,401 votes. Bercow was re-elected, and John Stevens, a former Conservative MEP (Defected to Lib-Dems), who campaigned with "Flipper the Dolphin" (a reference to MPs flipping second homes) came second with 10,331.

On 1 December 2010, the pilot of the aircraft involved in the accident was charged with threatening to kill Farage. He was also charged with threatening to kill an AAIB official involved in the investigation into the accident. In April 2011, Justin Adams was found guilty of making death threats. The judge said the defendant was "clearly extremely disturbed" at the time the offences happened adding "He is a man who does need help. If I can find a way of giving him help I will."

Alternative Vote referendum, May 2011

Farage declared himself personally in favour of the Alternative Vote system of May 2011, saying first-past-the-post is a "nightmare" for UKIP. However, the party's stance has to be decided by its central policy making committee.

Controversies and whistleblowing

Copyright infringement

In 1999 the BBC spent four months filming a documentary about his European elections campaign but didn't show it. Farage, then head of UKIP's South East office, asked for a video and got friends to make illegal copies which were sold for £5 through the UKIP magazine. Surrey Trading Standards investigated and Farage has admitted the offence.

Expenses disclosure

In May 2009, ''The Guardian'' reported that Farage had said in a speech to the Foreign Press Association that over ten years as a member of the European Parliament he received and spent nearly £2 million of taxpayers' money in expenses and allowances, on top of his £64,000 a year salary.

The former Europe Minister, Denis MacShane, said that this showed that Farage was "happy to line his pockets with gold". Farage called this a "misrepresentation", pointing out that the money had been used to promote UKIP's message, not salary, but he welcomed the focus on the issue of MEP expenses, claiming that "[o]ver a five year term each and every one of Britain's 78 MEPs gets about £1 million. It is used to employ administrative staff, run their offices and to travel back and forth between their home, Brussels and Strasbourg." He also pointed out the money spent on the YES campaign in Ireland by the European Commission was "something around 440 million", making the NO campaign's figure insignificant in comparison.

Jacques Barrot

On 18 November 2004, Farage announced in the European Parliament that Jacques Barrot, the French Commissioner designate, had been barred from elected office in France for 2 years, after being convicted in 2000 of embezzling £2 million from government funds and diverting it into the coffers of his party. He claimed that French President Jacques Chirac had granted Barrot amnesty. Although initial BBC reports claimed that, under French law, it was illegal even to mention the conviction, the prohibition in question only applies to French officials in the course of their duties. The president of the Parliament, Josep Borrell, enjoined him to retract his comments under threat of "legal consequences".However, the following day it was confirmed that Barrot had received an 8 month suspended jail sentence in the case, and that this had been quickly expunged by the amnesty decided by Chirac and his parliamentary majority. The Commission's president, Jose Manuel Barroso admitted that he had not known of Barrot's criminal record when appointing him as a Commission vice-president. The Socialist and Liberal groups in the European Parliament then joined UKIP in demanding the sacking of Barrot for failing to disclose the conviction during his confirmation hearings.

José Manuel Barroso

During the spring of 2005, Farage requested that the European Commission disclose where the individual Commissioners had spent their holidays. The Commission did not provide the information requested, on the basis that the Commissioners had a right of privacy. The German newspaper ''Die Welt'' reported that the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso had spent a week on the yacht of the Greek shipping billionaire Spiro Latsis. It emerged soon afterwards that this had occurred a month before the Commission under Barroso's predecessor Romano Prodi approved 10.3 million euro of Greek state aid for Latsis' shipping company. It also became known that Peter Mandelson, then a member of the Commission, had accepted a trip to Jamaica from an unrevealed source.

Farage persuaded around 75 MEPs from across the political divide to back a motion of no confidence in Barroso, which would be sufficient to compel Barroso to appear before the European Parliament to be questioned on the issue. The motion was successfully tabled on 12 May 2005, and Barroso appeared before Parliament at a debate on 26 May 2005. The motion was heavily defeated. A Conservative MEP, Roger Helmer, was expelled from his group, the European People's Party - European Democrats (EPP-ED) in the middle of the debate by that group's leader Hans-Gert Poettering as a result of his support for Farage's motion.

Joseph Daul

In January 2007, the French farmers' leader Joseph Daul was elected the new leader of the European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP-ED), the European Parliamentary grouping which then included the British Conservatives. The UK Independence Party almost immediately revealed that Daul had been under judicial investigation in France since 2004 as part of an inquiry into the alleged misuse of public funds worth €16 million (£10.6 million) by French farming unions." It was not suggested that Daul had personally benefited, but was accused of "complicity and concealment of the abuse of public funds." Daul accused Farage of publicising the investigation for political reasons and threatened to sue Farage, but did not do so though the court dropped all charges against him.

Prince Charles

Prince Charles gave a speech to the European Parliament on 14 February 2008, in which he called for EU leadership in the war against climate change. During the standing ovation that followed, Farage was the only MEP to remain seated and went on to describe the Prince's advisers as "naïve and foolish at best." Farage continued: "How can somebody like Prince Charles be allowed to come to the European Parliament at this time to announce he thinks it should have more powers? It would have been better for the country he wants to rule one day if he had stayed home and tried to persuade Gordon Brown to give the people the promised referendum [on the Treaty of Lisbon]." The leader of the UK Labour Party's MEPs, Gary Titley, accused Farage of anti-Royalism. Titley said: "I was embarrassed and disgusted when the Leader of the UK Independence Party, Nigel Farage, remained firmly seated during the lengthy standing ovation Prince Charles received. I had not realised Mr Farage's blind adherence to right wing politics involved disloyalty and discourtesy to the Royal Family. He should be thoroughly ashamed of himself and should apologise to the British people he represents."

Herman Van Rompuy

After the speech of Herman Van Rompuy on 24 February 2010 in the European parliament, Farage—to protests from other MEPs—addressed the first long-term President of the European Council saying that he has the "charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of low grade bank clerk", also asserting that Van Rompuy's "intention is to be the quiet assassin of European democracy and of European nation states." He also referred to Belgium as a "non-country", and that "nobody in Europe" knows who Van Rompuy is, nor how he was elected. Van Rompuy commented afterwards, "There was one contribution that I can only hold in contempt, but I'm not going to comment further." After refusing to apologise for behaviour that was, in the words of the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, "inappropriate, unparliamentary and insulting to the dignity of the House", Farage was reprimanded and had his right to ten days' allowance (expenses) rescinded. The President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, said after his meeting with Farage:- 'I defend absolutely Mr Farage's right to disagree about the policy or institutions of the Union, but not to personally insult our guests in the European Parliament or the country from which they may come. [. . .] I myself fought for free speech as the absolute cornerstone of a democratic society. But with freedom comes responsibility - in this case, to respect the dignity of others and of our institutions. I am disappointed by Mr Farage's behaviour, which sits ill with the great parliamentary tradition of his own country. I cannot accept this sort of behaviour in the European Parliament. I invited him to apologise, but he declined to do so. I have therefore - as an expression of the seriousness of the matter - rescinded his right to ten days' daily allowance as a Member'. Questioned by Camilla Long in the article entitled "brimming over with bile and booze" in which she appeared to make light over his fight against cancer, Farage declared it wasn't abusive, it was right.

Views on the Euro

From taking office as a UKIP MEP in 1999 Farage has often voiced opposition to the "Euro project". His argument is that "a one size fits all interest rate" can not work for countries with structually different economies, often using the example of Greece and Germany to emphasise contrast. He predicted the need for 'bail outs' before European Commission and European Central Bank officials admit that these are necessary. Farage predicted that Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain would all require such assistance. To date Spain is the only predicted country that have not asked for a 'bail out' but Farage warns: "You can ignore the markets if you want to but in time the markets will not ignore you". Farage also reinforces Germany's argument that Italy "should never have joined the Euro" but has not explicitly predicted the need for similar assistance. Farage predicts that if the situation continues it will lead to violence due to the peoples inability to "determine their own futures through the ballot box" as it will become the only "logical" tool to enable them to escape from their "economic prison" i.e. The Eurozone. He proclaims "I can only hope and pray that the euro project is destroyed by the markets before that really happens." Farage strongly opposes the use of 'bail outs' and claims "buying your own debt with tax payers money" will not solve the problem and that "if we do the next debt crisis won't be a country" "it will be the European Central Bank its self".

Electoral performance

Nigel Farage has contested several elections under the United Kingdom Independence Party banner:

Itchen, Test and Avon, European Parliament Election 1994 - 12,423 votes, representing 5.2% of total votes cast

Eastleigh by-election, 1994 - 952, 1.4%

Salisbury, 1997 general election - 3,332, 5.7%

European Parliament election, 1999 - elected member for South East England from party list

Bexhill and Battle, 2001 general election - 3,474, 7.8%

European Parliament election, 2004 - elected member for South East England from party list

South Thanet, 2005 general election - 2,079, 5.0%

Bromley and Chislehurst by-election, 2006 - 2,307, 8.0%

European Parliament election, 2009 - elected member for South East England from party list.

Buckingham, 2010 general election - 8,410, 17.4%

Footnotes

References

2002 Amnesty law

Penal Code, articles L133-9, L133-10, L133-11

External links

UKIP profile

Profile at European Parliament website

Official website of the UK Independence Party in the European Parliament

Political group in the European Parliament

Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:United Kingdom Independence Party politicians Category:Members of the European Parliament for English constituencies Category:Critics of the European Union Category:People from Farnborough, London Category:Old Alleynians Category:Leaders of the United Kingdom Independence Party Category:British libertarians Category:UK Independence Party MEPs Category:MEPs for the United Kingdom 1999–2004 Category:MEPs for the United Kingdom 2004–2009 Category:MEPs for the United Kingdom 2009–2014

br:Nigel Farage cs:Nigel Farage cy:Nigel Farage de:Nigel Farage et:Nigel Farage es:Nigel Farage fr:Nigel Farage it:Nigel Farage nl:Nigel Farage pl:Nigel Farage ro:Nigel Farage simple:Nigel Farage fi:Nigel Farage sv:Nigel Farage

name	Boris Johnson
office	Mayor of London
term start	4 May 2008
deputy	Richard Barnes
predecessor	Ken Livingstone
office2	Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority
term start2	1 October 2008
term end2	1 January 2010
deputy2	Kit Malthouse
predecessor2	Len Duvall
successor2	Kit Malthouse
office3	Shadow Minister for Higher Education
term start3	6 December 2005
term end3	16 July 2007
leader3	David Cameron
predecessor3	David Cameron
successor3	Adam Afriyie
office4	Shadow Minister for the Arts
term start4	14 April 2004
term end4	17 November 2004
leader4	Michael Howard
predecessor4	Gerald Howarth
successor4	Tony Baldry
office5	Member of Parliament for Henley
term start5	9 June 2001
term end5	4 June 2008
predecessor5	Michael Heseltine
successor5	John Howell
birth date	June 19, 1964
birth place	New York City, United States
nationality	British
party	Conservative
spouse	Allegra Mostyn-Owen (1987–1993, divorced)Marina Wheeler (1993–present)
relations	Stanley Johnson (father)Rachel Johnson (sister)Jo Johnson (brother)Leo Johnson (brother)
children	Lara Lettice JohnsonMilo Arthur JohnsonCassia Peaches JohnsonTheodore Apollo Johnson
residence	Highbury, London
alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford
occupation	Conservative politician
profession	Politician, journalist
religion	Christian (Church of England)
website	Official mayoral website
footnotes	}}

Name	Boris Johnson
candidate	Mayor of London
election date	3 May 2012
incumbent	Boris Johnson
opponent	Ken Livingstone (Lab)
website	Back Boris 2012 }}

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008. He was the Member of Parliament for Henley and editor of ''The Spectator'' magazine.

Johnson was educated at the Primrose Hill Primary School, Camden, European School of Brussels, Ashdown House School, Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford, where he read ''Literae Humaniores''. He began his career in journalism with ''The Times'', and later moved on to ''The Daily Telegraph'' where he became assistant editor. He was appointed editor of ''The Spectator'' in 1999. In the 2001 general election he was elected to the House of Commons and became one of the most high profile politicians in the country. He has also written several books.

Under Michael Howard, Johnson briefly served on the Conservative front bench as the Shadow Minister for the Arts from April 2004 until November 2004. When David Cameron was elected leader of the Conservative Party in 2005, Johnson was re-appointed to the front bench as Shadow Minister for Higher Education and resigned as editor of ''The Spectator''. In September 2007 he was selected as the Conservative candidate for the 2008 Mayor of London election. Johnson defeated Labour incumbent Ken Livingstone and was elected Mayor, after which he resigned his seat in parliament. With over a million votes, he received the largest personal mandate of any politician in British history.

Parental origins, education and marriages

Johnson is the eldest of the four children of Stanley Johnson, a former Conservative Member of the European Parliament and employee of the European Commission and World Bank, and of his first wife, the painter Charlotte Fawcett (later Wahl), the daughter of Sir James Fawcett, a barrister and president of the European Commission of Human Rights. He is the elder brother of Rachel Johnson, a writer and journalist, Jo Johnson, a columnist and Associate Editor of the ''Financial Times'' and Conservative MP for Orpington since the General Election of 2010, and Leo Johnson, a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers specialising in Sustainability.

Johnson's maternal great-grandparents were palaeographer Elias Avery Lowe and translator H. T. Lowe-Porter. On his father's side, Johnson is a great-grandson of Ali Kemal Bey, a liberal Turkish journalist and the interior minister in the government of Damat Ferid Pasha, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, who was murdered during the Turkish War of Independence. During World War I, Boris's grandfather and great aunt were recognised as British citizens and took their grandmother's maiden name of Johnson. In reference to his cosmopolitan ancestry, Johnson has described himself as a "one-man melting pot" — with a combination of Muslims, Jews and Christians comprising his great-grandparentage. His father's maternal grandmother, Marie Louise de Pfeffel, was a descendant of Prince Paul of Württemberg through his relationship with a German actress. Through Prince Paul, Johnson is a descendant of King George II, and through George's great-great-great grandfather James I/VI, a descendant of all of the previous British royal houses. Johnson is an 8th cousin of David Cameron.

Johnson was born in New York City, but his family returned to Britain soon afterward, as his mother had yet to take her Oxford University final exams. Johnson's sister Rachel was born a year later. As a child, Boris Johnson suffered from severe deafness and had to undergo several operations to have grommets inserted in his ears and was reported to have been rather quiet as a child. He was educated at the European School in Brussels, at Ashdown House School and at Eton College, where he was a King's Scholar. He read Classics at Balliol College, Oxford, as a Brackenbury scholar and was elected President of the Oxford Union at his second attempt. Frank Luntz and Radosław Sikorski have claimed Johnson touted himself as a supporter of the Social Democratic Party, then a dominant faction in the university, as a strategy to win the Union presidency, although Johnson denies that he was more than the SDP's preferred candidate. Along with David Cameron and George Osborne he was a member of Oxford's Bullingdon Club, a student dining society known for destroying restaurant dining rooms.

In 1987, he married Allegra Mostyn-Owen; the marriage was dissolved in 1993. Later that year, he married Marina Wheeler, a barrister, the daughter of journalist and broadcaster Sir Charles Wheeler and his Sikh Indian wife, Dip Singh. The Wheeler and Johnson families have known each other for decades, and Marina Wheeler was at the European School in Brussels at the same time as her future husband. They have two sons—Milo Arthur (born 1995) and Theodore Apollo (born 1999)—and two daughters—Lara Lettice (born 1993) and Cassia Peaches (born 1997). Boris Johnson and his family currently live in Holloway, North London. Johnson's stepmother, Jenny, the second wife of his father Stanley, is the stepdaughter of Edward Sieff, the former chairman of Marks & Spencer.

Journalism and history

Upon graduating from Oxford, he spent only a week as a management consultant at L.E.K. Consulting: He then became a trainee reporter for ''The Times''. Within a year he was sacked for falsifying a quotation from his godfather, Colin Lucas, later vice-chancellor of Oxford University. After a short time as a writer for the Wolverhampton ''Express & Star'', he joined ''The Daily Telegraph'' in 1987 as leader and feature writer, and from 1989 to 1994 was the paper's European Community correspondent. He served as assistant editor from 1994 to 1999. In 1995 a recording of a telephone conversation was made public revealing a plot by a friend physically to assault a ''News of the World'' journalist. Johnson retained his position at the ''Telegraph'' as there was no evidence that he intended to provide information that would facilitate the assault of the journalist, even though he promised under pressure to provide this information. His association with ''The Spectator'' began as political columnist from 1994 to 1995. In 1999 he became editor of ''The Spectator'', where he stayed until December 2005 upon being appointed Shadow Minister for Higher Education.

He wrote an autobiographical account of his experience of the 2001 election campaign ''Friends, Voters, Countrymen: Jottings on the Stump''. He is also author of three collections of journalism, ''Johnson's Column'', ''Lend Me Your Ears'' and ''Have I Got Views For You''. His comic first novel ''Seventy-Two Virgins'' was published in 2004, and his next book will be ''The New British Revolution'', though he has put publication on hold until after the London Mayoral election. He was nominated in 2004 for a British Academy Television Award, and has attracted several unofficial fan clubs and sites. His official website and blog started in September, 2004.

Johnson is a popular historian and his first documentary series, ''The Dream of Rome'', comparing the Roman Empire and the modern-day European Union, was broadcast in 2006.

After being elected mayor, he announced that he would be resuming his weekly column for ''The Daily Telegraph''. ''The Guardian'' reported that he had agreed a £250,000 annual salary for doing so. The report added that he will donate £25,000 each towards two scholarships: one for students of journalism, and the other for the teaching of classics.

Political career

After having been defeated in Clwyd South in the 1997 general election, Johnson was elected MP for Henley, succeeding Michael Heseltine, in the 2001 General Election. He described this election in his 2002 book, Friends, Voters, Countrymen. In 2004 he was appointed to the front bench as Shadow Minister for the Arts in a small reshuffle resulting from the resignation of the Shadow Home Affairs Spokesman, Nick Hawkins. He was also from November 2003 vice-chairman of the Conservative Party, with an emphasis on campaigning.

Johnson was dismissed from these high-profile posts in November, 2004 over accusations that he lied to Michael Howard about a four-year extramarital affair with Petronella Wyatt, ''The Spectator'''s New York correspondent and former deputy editor. Johnson derided these allegations as "an inverted pyramid of piffle", but Howard sacked Johnson because he believed press reports showed Johnson had lied, rather than for the affair itself.

Higher education

He was appointed Shadow Minister for Higher Education on 9 December 2005 by new Conservative Leader David Cameron, and resigned as editor of ''The Spectator'' soon afterward. On 2 April 2006 it was alleged in the ''News of the World'' that Johnson had had another extramarital affair, this time with ''Times Higher Education Supplement'' journalist Anna Fazackerley. The video shows him emerging from her flat and waving to her in a taxi. Subsequently, in a speech at the University of Exeter concerning student finance, he allegedly made comical remarks about his gratitude to the audience for not "raising other issues" during the talk, which may have been a reference to the allegations. A report in ''The Times'' stated that Cameron regarded the possible affair as a private matter, and that Johnson would not lose his job over it.

Johnson stood for the February 2006 election of Rector of the University of Edinburgh, after receiving seven times more nominations than needed to stand. His presence as candidate caused an unprecedented turn-out and sparked an "Anyone but Boris" campaign. Protests included having drinks thrown over him at his first of two visits to the student body. Johnson eventually polled third of four, with 2,123 votes, behind 3,052 votes for journalist Magnus Linklater and 3,597 for Green Party MSP Mark Ballard. Johnson was quoted as having been pleased to mobilise the student body, but disappointed at the personal campaign against him as an "English top-up fee merchant".

In September 2006, his image was used in 'Boris needs you' and 'I Love Boris' material to promote the Conservative Party's image during Freshers' Week in universities.

2008 London Mayoral election

After several days of speculation, Johnson announced he was a potential Conservative candidate for the London mayoral election in 2008 on 16 July 2007. Reported as saying he resigned as Shadow Minister for Higher Education. He was confirmed as the Conservative candidate on 27 September 2007 after gaining 75% of the vote in a public London-wide primary.

The Conservative Party hired Australian election strategist Lynton Crosby to run Johnson's campaign. Aware of Johnson's propensity for committing gaffes, Crosby prevented him from holding interviews with the print and broadcast media in favour of radio talk shows and daytime television which asked "easier" questions. Crosby also made Johnson tell fewer jokes and have a simpler haircut to help make him appear more serious. The campaign targeted Conservative-leaning suburbs in outer London to capitalise on a sense of detachment with the Livingstone administration which had focused on inner London areas.

His campaign was launched in Edmonton in March 2008 when David Cameron, introducing Johnson, commented "I don't always agree with him, but I respect the fact that he's absolutely his own man."

His manifesto was published in sections; they were, together with quotes or general content:

;Accountability ''2008 manifesto: "Making London’s Mayor Accountable"''...

;Business ''2008 manifesto: "Backing London Business"''...

;Environment ''2008 manifesto: "Protecting Our Local Environment"''...

;Crime ''2008 manifesto: "Making London Safer"'''... He included a pledge to remove red tape in the Metropolitan Police Service.

;Housing ''2008 manifesto: "Building A Better London"...

;Pensioners ''2008 manifesto: "Appreciating Our Seniors"...

;Transport ''2008 manifesto: "Getting Londoners Moving"... He promised:

better orbital public transport: "One of the limitations of the public transport network in outer London is the lack of direct and convenient orbital routes."

cutting crime by increasing police presence on public transport

to scrap controversial articulated "bendy" buses and replace them with modern designs of the iconic Routemaster bus.

Johnson's candidature received opposition from across the political spectrum. Right-wing journalists Simon Heffer and Peregrine Worsthorne described Johnson as not being serious enough to hold the role of Mayor of London, Worsthorne noting that the "harder he tried [to be serious], the more insincere, incoherent, evasive and even puerile he looked and sounded". Ken Livingstone described Johnson as "a joke". Left of centre commentators claimed that Johnson was not suited to be Mayor of such an ethnically diverse city because he had previously made comments which they interpreted as racist, a situation exacerbated when the British National Party urged its supporters to give their second preference votes to Johnson. Johnson denied allegations of racism and stated that he did not want any BNP supporters to vote for him.

Johnson's candidacy was the subject of international interest. Germany's ''Der Spiegel'' and America's National Public Radio reported the race, both quoting Johnson as saying "if you vote for the Conservatives, your wife will get bigger breasts, and your chances of driving a BMW M3 will increase", without however giving a source for this; the BBC has quoted the same statement by him from his 2004 campaign trail.

Though most pollsters—with the exception of YouGov which accurately forecast the final result—predicted either a close result or narrow win for Livingstone, it was announced on 2 May 2008 Johnson had garnered a total of 1,168,738 first and second preference votes to Livingstone's 1,028,966. Johnson benefited from a large voter turnout in Conservative strongholds, in particular Bexley and Bromley where he amassed a majority of over 80,000 over Livingstone. Following his victory, he praised Livingstone as a "very considerable public servant" and added that he hoped to "discover a way in which the mayoralty can continue to benefit from your transparent love of London". He also announced that, as a result of his victory, he would resign as Member of Parliament for Henley.

Mayor of London

Staff appointments

Johnson assumed control at City Hall on 4 May 2008. He appointed Richard Barnes as his Deputy Mayor on 6 May 2008, as well as appointing the following to newly devolved offices; Ian Clement as Deputy Mayor for Government Relations, Kit Malthouse as Deputy Mayor for Policing and Ray Lewis as Deputy Mayor for Young People.

The Mayor also appointed Munira Mirza as his cultural adviser and Nick Boles, the founder of Policy Exchange, as Chief of Staff. Sir Simon Milton has become Deputy Mayor for Policy and Planning, as well as Chief of Staff. He appointed Anthony Browne as Policy Director. Kulveer Ranger was appointed to Advisor for Transport and Isabel Dedring to Advisor for the Environment.

Political opponents questioned Johnson's judgment when Ray Lewis resigned on 4 July 2008, shortly after taking up his post, following allegations of financial misconduct during his prior career as a Church of England priest and inappropriate behaviour in respect of a false claim to have been appointed as a magistrate. Hazel Blears, the UK Communities Secretary, said that "People across the country will note that after just two months, the new Tory administration in London is in complete disarray. Londoners need to know what Boris knew and why the situation has changed." Kit Malthouse however, London's Deputy Mayor for Policing, defended Lewis and said that he had "dedicated himself to saving young lives in London", regarding his policies on tackling knife crime, and called the Labour Party "ungracious" and accused them of "dancing on his political grave". Johnson himself said that he was "misled" by Lewis. On 22 June 2009, Ian Clement resigned after breaking rules by paying for personal items using a corporate credit card.

Alcohol use ban on public transport

On 7 May 2008, Johnson announced plans to ban the consumption of alcohol on the London transport network, effective from 1 June, a policy described by Jeroen Weimar, Transport for London's director of transport policing and enforcement, as reasonable, saying people should be more considerate on the trains. The ban initially applied on the London Underground, Buses, DLR and Croydon Trams. The London Overground was added later in June 2008. Press releases said that the ban would apply to "stations across the capital", but did not specify whether this included National Rail stations - especially those stations not served by the TfL lines on which alcohol is banned.

On the final evening on which alcohol was to be permitted on London transport, thousands of drinkers descended on the Underground system to mark the event. Six London Underground stations were closed as trouble began, and a number of staff and police were assaulted. Police made 17 arrests as several trains were damaged and withdrawn from service.

Forensic Audit Panel

The formation of the Forensic Audit Panel was announced on 8 May 2008. The Panel is tasked with monitoring and investigating financial management at the London Development Agency and the Greater London Authority. It is headed by Patience Wheatcroft, former editor of The Sunday Telegraph. Previously the GLA investigated allegations of financial mismanagement itself.

Johnson's announcement was criticised by Labour for the perceived politicisation of this nominally independent panel, who asked if the appointment of these key Johnson allies to the panel - "to dig dirt on Ken Livingstone" - was "an appropriate use of public funds". Wheatcroft is married to a Conservative councilor and three of the four remaining panel members also have close links to the Conservatives: Stephen Greenhalgh (Conservative Leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council), Patrick Frederick (Chairman of Conservative Business Relations for South East England and Southern London) and Edward Lister (Conservative Leader of Wandsworth Council).

The panel reported in July 2008. Its findings included that it had "identified failings in the LDA’s leadership, governance and basic controls which have led to our overall conclusion that the former LDA board was ineffective" and also raised a number of concerns about the value for money achieved on projects that the LDA had funded. However, on the central allegations that the previous administration had misused their powers, the Panel found "their attempts to influence LDA project decisions did not breach any rules or protocols".

2008 Olympics

Johnson was present at the closing ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing as London's representative to receive the Olympic flag from Guo Jinlong, the Mayor of Beijing in order to announce formally London as Olympic host city. At the subsequent handover party held at London House in Beijing, he gave a speech in which he declared 'ping pong is coming home'.

U.S. presidential election

In August 2008, Johnson broke from the traditional procedure of those in public office not publicly commenting on other nations' elections when he openly endorsed then-Senator Barack Obama for the presidency of the United States. He later wrote an editorial in ''The Telegraph'' explaining his decision.

Resignation of Sir Ian Blair

In October 2008, Boris Johnson forced the resignation of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Ian Blair, hours after taking control of London’s police authority. Those in support of this measure claimed that Blair's handling of certain events, such as the death of Jean-Charles de Menezes, bonus payments and bias in favour of a piece of Government legislation left his position untenable, but critics have argued that the forced resignation makes the role of the commissioner more political.

Expenses controversy

In June 2009, it was revealed that Mayoral expenditure on taxi fares had risen by 540% under Boris Johnson's administration, from £729 in 2007/08 to £4,698 in 2008/09.

Several expense claims for very short taxi journeys were submitted by the Mayor, many which included charges for taxis to wait several hours for the Mayor to use them with the meter running (for example, a return journey from City Hall to Elephant and Castle - a journey of 3 miles - which cost £99.50).

There are questions about whether some of this expenditure was allowed under GLA rules, which state taxis should be used only when there is no feasible public transport alternative and which ban paying taxis to wait more than 20 minutes.

Mugging intervention

On 2 November 2009, Johnson intervened in the attempted mugging of a London resident as she was walking home. The victim, documentary film maker and Ken Livingstone supporter, Franny Armstrong, was pushed against a car by a "group of young girls", one wielding an iron bar. Johnson, who rides a bicycle to work, was cycling past when he responded to Armstrong's call for help. Johnson "picked up the iron bar, called after the girls and cycled after them." He also reportedly called the girls "oiks". Johnson then returned to Armstrong and walked her home. Armstrong described Boris as her 'knight on a shining bicycle'. The Mayor's office has, however, declined to comment on the incident.

Television appearances

''Have I Got News for You''

Johnson has appeared on the British television programme ''Have I Got News for You'' four times as a guest presenter and three times as a panellist. The tabloid press, before he became an MP, tagged him as the show's star, even though he had then appeared only twice on a programme that had run for ten years. He has also taken part in the similar Radio 4 programme, ''The News Quiz''.

On his first ''HIGNFY'' appearance, in 1998, Johnson was chided by Ian Hislop over his previous association with fraudster Darius Guppy (see below). Johnson later claimed the show was "fixed", though he retracted the comment when invited back a year later. When asked why he had come back, Johnson replied to the delight of the audience that it was "basically for the money."

By his third appearance, Johnson had been elected to Parliament. He was subjected to a surprise ''Mastermind'' parody round, where he began by getting his own name "wrong", saying "my name is Boris Johnson" and then being corrected by the host, Angus Deayton, who proceeded to quote his full birth name, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson. He was then given questions about his party's leader, Iain Duncan Smith. Despite claiming to be an admirer and supporter of his leader, Johnson proceeded to get no questions correct, whilst constantly questioning the need for such a round. He also admitted during this show he had forgotten the title of his own book as he was writing it.

Johnson later became one of the first guest hosts for the show, his opening remarks being: He initially promised Paul Merton a coconut instead of a point; Johnson then retracted the offer but Merton insisted on a coconut. At the end, a stage hand brought in a bag of them, giving Johnson a chance to say, "Coconuts, from the party that keeps its promises!" Johnson kept a chaotic show, frequently forgetting panellists' names, positions and losing answers, which caused the usually deadpan Merton to laugh out of pure disbelief. He also opined his becoming leader of the Conservative Party was as likely as his "...being locked in a disused fridge." Merton cheerfully told him "These things do happen!"

In 2004, Johnson was nominated for a BAFTA Television Award in the entertainment category for his performance on the show in 2003. Johnson returned to front ''Have I Got News for You'' in November 2005. He admitted on the show that he once tried to snort cocaine, but sneezed and failed. He also hosted ''Have I Got News for You'''s Christmas special on 15 December 2006, his fourth appearance as host.

On the DVD commentary (recorded before Johnson's appearances as guest host) of ''The Very Best of Have I Got News for You'', Merton and Hislop affectionately refer to Johnson as "a Wodehousian character", and stated that "he gets better every time".

''Top Gear''

Johnson has appeared on television motoring show ''Top Gear'' as a "star in a reasonably priced car" (one of the show's features). He set a time of 1m 56s in the Suzuki Liana, finishing nine places from the bottom before they changed car. While nearing the end of his timed lap, he failed to realise that he had accidentally pressed the horn with his arm. After hearing the noise he looked around puzzled and said, "Who hooted at me?" He returned to the show on 7 December 2008, spinning out on every corner during test runs, before setting a lap time of 1m 57.4s in the Chevrolet Lacetti. His potentially "disastrous" time was caused by the "very wet" conditions.

''Room 101''

Appearing in 2003, Johnson nominated boiled eggs, Lynda Lee Potter, smoking bans, Richard Clayderman and people who shout things like "you Tory tosser" at him whilst he's cycling as his selections to put into Room 101, with only the last of the five being rejected. He claimed that his refusal to eat eggs from the age of 6 months was his "first major policy decision".

''The Dream of Rome''

Johnson presented a BBC TV series titled ''The Dream of Rome'', which described how ancient Rome united Europe in a way which the modern European Union has failed to do. A book published by HarperCollins followed the series.

''The Dame Edna Treatment''

Originally broadcast on ITV1 on 28 April 2007, Johnson was a guest on ''The Dame Edna Treatment''. He rode a bicycle onto the stage and sat alongside Shane Warne, Alan Alda and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

''Who Do You Think You Are?''

On 20 August 2008, Johnson was the subject of the BBC family history programme ''Who Do You Think You Are?''. He was revealed to be a direct, if illegitimate, descendant of George II of Great Britain through his eight times grandmother Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, granddaughter of George II and wife of Friedrich I of Württemberg, and thence through their son Prince Paul of Württemberg and Paul's illegitimate daughter, Adelheid von Rothenburg. Adelheid (known as Caroline) married Baron de Pfeffel, from whom Boris takes one of his middle names. By his descent from George II of Great Britain he is also descendant of all the other major European royal houses. His Turkish great grandfather, Ali Kemal Bey, who was also, like Johnson, a politician and journalist, was assassinated in the 1920s, following political conflict in Turkey.

''After Rome''

In December 2008 BBC2 aired a two-part documentary written and presented by Johnson, called ''After Rome'', in which he looked at the influence Muslims have had on the world, especially in Europe during the peak of the Islamic Empire (specifically drawn from the Islamic Golden Age). In this he investigated the current crisis of the "clash of civilisations" between Christianity and Islam, searching for reasons why Islam is hated in the West, and ''vice versa''.

''EastEnders''

On 17 July 2009, Johnson filmed a short scene in the British soap opera ''EastEnders'', appearing as himself in a scene with Peggy Mitchell (played by Barbara Windsor). The episode was broadcast on 1 October. Ken Livingstone accused the BBC of political bias for allowing Johnson to appear in the programme.

Documentaries

Johnson's period in the Bullingdon Club alongside David Cameron, and his campaign to become President of the Oxford Union, were examined in the Channel 4 docu-drama, ''When Boris Met Dave'', which was broadcast on 7 October 2009.

Persona

Johnson is one of the most recognisable figures in British politics — partly attributable to his trademark unruly hairstyle (one exception to this trademark was during the 2008 Olympics). He is one of few British politicians identifiable by his first name alone. Reportedly, fearing that this familiarity made him more likeable and was helping his chances during the London Mayoral Campaign, Labour MP Tessa Jowell set up a 'swearbox' where any campaign member referring to him as 'Boris' would pay a fine. Jowell herself denied these claims. Johnson has since attracted a variety of irreverent names, including "BoJo" (a portmanteau of his forename and surname).

Johnson has been a frequent target for satirists. The magazine ''Private Eye'' pictured him on the front cover of issues 1120 (26 November 2004), 1156 (14 April 2006), and 1214 (11 July 2008). He has featured regularly in its cartoon strip (currently called ''Dave Snooty and his Pals'') as "Boris the Menace" (cf. ''Dennis the Menace'').

He has shown himself to be outspoken on issues which are treated by some as belonging to the realms of political correctness. In ''Friends, Voters, Countrymen'' (2001), Johnson wrote that "if gay marriage was OK - and I was uncertain on the issue - then I saw no reason in principle why a union should not be consecrated between three men, as well as two men, or indeed three men and a dog." In recent years Johnson has played down his previous support for the anti-gay law known as Section 28. and has expressed more moderate views on the issue.

Shortly after the 7 July bombings in 2005, Johnson made the following comments: }}

Three years after the bombing, Johnson told the Guardian newspaper the following:

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He has made a number of appearances on television explaining his article on the 7/7 attacks, saying he now believes, after having researched the Qu'ran more in depth, that it is a "religion of peace".

Johnson is known for his love of cycling and regularly cycles to work. He has been the victim of several bike thefts and has expressed his desire to plant "decoy bicycles throughout Islington and send Navy SEALs in through the windows of thieves". He introduced a bicycle sharing system modelled on Velib in London in July 2010. However, since becoming Mayor of London he has cut £10m off the budget for new cycle lanes in London. A spokesman for Johnson said that the overall investment in cycling in London had been increased to a record £55m in 2008, up from £36m the year prior.

Controversies

Stuart Collier

Johnson was criticised in 1995, when a recording of a telephone conversation made in 1990 was made public, in which he is heard agreeing under pressure to supply to a former schoolmate, Darius Guppy, the private address and telephone number of the ''News of the World'' journalist Stuart Collier. There is no evidence that Boris actually supplied the requested information, even though he promised under duress that he would. Guppy wished to have Collier beaten up for attempting to smear members of his family. Collier was not attacked, but Johnson did not alert the police and the incident only became public knowledge when a transcript of the conversation was published in the ''Mail on Sunday''. Johnson retained his job at the ''Telegraph'' but was reprimanded by its editor Max Hastings.

'Theft' of cigar case

Boris Johnson has been investigated by the police for the 'theft', in 2003, of a cigar case belonging to Tariq Aziz, an associate of Saddam Hussein, which Johnson had found in the rubble of Aziz's house in Baghdad. Aziz is currently in prison in Iraq, having been convicted of ordering the summary execution of 42 merchants. He faces other charges in relation to the brutal suppression of the Shia Muslim uprising after the first 1991 Gulf War. At the time, Johnson wrote an article in the ''Daily Telegraph'', stating he had taken the cigar case and would return it to its owner upon request. Despite this admission in 2003, Johnson received no indication from the police that he was being investigated for theft until 2008, leading supporters of Johnson to express suspicion that the investigation coincided with his candidacy for the position of London Mayor. "This is a monumental waste of time," said Johnson. On 24 June 2008, Johnson was forced to hand the cigar case over to police while they carried out enquiries into whether the Iraq (UN Sanctions) Order 2003 had been breached.

People of Liverpool

On 16 October 2004, ''The Spectator'' carried an unsigned editorial comment criticising a perceived trend to mawkish sentimentality by the public. Using British hostage Kenneth Bigley as an example, the editorial claimed the inhabitants of Bigley's home city of Liverpool were wallowing in a "vicarious victimhood"; that many Liverpudlians had a "deeply unattractive psyche"; and that they refused to accept responsibility for "drunken fans at the back of the crowd who mindlessly tried to fight their way into the ground" during the Hillsborough disaster, a contention at odds with the findings of the Taylor Report. The editorial closed with: "In our maturity as a civilisation, we should accept that we can cut out the cancer of ignorant sentimentality without diminishing, as in this case, our utter disgust at a foul and barbaric act of murder."

Although Johnson had not written the piece (journalist Simon Heffer later said he "had a hand" in it), he accepted responsibility for its publication. The Conservative leader at the time, Michael Howard (a supporter of Liverpool FC), condemned the editorial, saying "I think what was said in ''The Spectator'' was nonsense from beginning to end", and sent Johnson on a tour of contrition to the city. There, in numerous interviews and public appearances, Johnson defended the editorial's thesis (that the deaths of figures such as Bigley and Diana, Princess of Wales, were over-sentimentalised); but he apologised for the article's wording and for using Liverpool and Bigley's death as examples, saying "I think the article was too trenchantly expressed but we were trying to make a point about sentimentality". Michael Howard resisted calls to dismiss Johnson over the Bigley affair, but dismissed him the next month over the Wyatt revelations.

Petronella Wyatt affair

In 2004, British newspapers reported that Boris Johnson had had a four-year affair with Petronella Wyatt. The affair, which had been well hinted at in UK newspaper gossip columns, included passionate London taxi cab rides around St John's Wood during which they would ask the cab driver to insert cassette tapes of Wyatt singing Puccini. Although Johnson had promised to leave his wife, after a break-up, they had rekindled their relationship during which Wyatt had become pregnant and then had an abortion; resulting in her mother discovering the affair and reporting it to the press. Johnson was sacked from his shadow cabinet post by Michael Howard, not because of the affair but because he had lied about it.

Papua New Guinea

In a 2006 column, Johnson likened Conservative leadership disputes to "Papua New Guinea-style orgies of cannibalism and chief-killing" and was criticised in Papua New Guinea. The nation's High Commissioner invited him to visit the country and see for himself, while remarking that his comments might mean he was refused a visa. Johnson suggested he would add Papua New Guinea to his global apology itinerary, and said he was sure the people there "lived lives of blameless bourgeois domesticity in common with the rest of us". In his defence, he stated "My remarks were inspired by a ''Time Life'' book I have which does indeed show relatively recent photos of Papua New Guinean tribes engaged in warfare, and I'm fairly certain that cannibalism was involved."

Portsmouth

In April 2007 Johnson was called upon to resign by the MPs for the city of Portsmouth after claiming in a column for GQ that the city was "one of the most depressed towns in Southern England, a place that is arguably too full of drugs, obesity, underachievement and Labour MPs".

Allegations of racism

Two days after Boris Johnson's candidacy for Mayor of London took a six point poll lead over Ken Livingstone in a YouGov survey published by the ''Daily Telegraph'', Doreen Lawrence, mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence, said that he would 'destroy London's unity', adding that 'once people read his views, there is no way he is going to get the support of any people in the black community'. She was referring especially to the occasion on which Johnson, as a journalist in 1999, accused the Macpherson Inquiry, which reported on police racism following the Lawrence murder, of 'hysteria', adding that the "recommendation that the law might be changed so as to allow prosecution for racist language or behaviour 'other than in a public place'" was akin to "Ceausescu's Romania".

The Conservative London Assembly candidate for Bexley and Bromley and former Conservative candidate for mayor of Lewisham, James Cleverly, another black Londoner, rejected Lawrence's criticisms.

In a piece in the ''Evening Standard'' on 6 August 2007, the journalist Andrew Gilligan responded to the allegations saying how 'outrageous – indeed Orwellian – it is to attack a man as a destroyer of racial harmony, one of the most serious charges you can lay, simply on the basis that he refuses to sign up for every dot and comma of a report of which she approves. While condemning the "grotesque failures" in the Lawrence case which "may well have originated in racism," Boris was far from the only person to oppose that particular Macpherson recommendation. Labour MPs opposed it, too. So did the Government, clearly, because they didn’t implement it.'

These remarks were followed by criticism from two black Labour London MPs, Diane Abbott and Dawn Butler, who criticised a column written by Johnson in 2002, saying he had used "most offensive language of the colonial past", showing "that the Tory party is riddled with racial prejudice". In the article in question, written to satirise the Prime Minister's visit to Congo, Johnson mocked "Supertone" (Tony Blair) for his brief visits to world trouble spots, bringing peace to the world while the UK deteriorated; Blair would arrive as "the tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles to see the big white chief", just as "it is said the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies". Although these remarks were intended as a satirical dig at the patronising attitude of Blair and the Queen towards foreigners, the choice of language left Johnson exposed to allegations of racism.

Johnson's campaign team rejected suggestions that their candidate might be prejudiced, insisting that he "loathes racism in all its forms". However, journalist Rod Liddle said that Johnson has used the word "piccaninnies" on another occasion to refer to black Africans. Greater London analyst and director of the Greater London Group at the London School of Economics, Dr. Tony Travers, has written that "There is no way to dress up expressions such as "piccaninnies'" and "watermelon smiles" to take them within a million miles of acceptable."

At an ''Evening Standard'' debate on 21 January 2008, Johnson apologised for these remarks, while insisting that, as parodies of the attitudes of others, they were taken out of context:

I do feel very sad that people have been so offended by these words and I'm sorry that I've caused this offence. But if you look at the article as written they really do not bear the construction that you're putting on them. I feel very strongly that this is something which is simply not in my heart. I'm absolutely 100 per cent anti-racist, I despise and loathe racism"

Damian Green arrest

Boris Johnson was informed in advance of the arrest of fellow Conservative MP Damian Green and told acting Metropolitan Police Commissioner Paul Stephenson that he did not regard the arrest as 'common sense policing'. A spokesman for Johnson says he told Stephenson he would need to see "convincing evidence that this action was necessary and proportionate," and that it would be better for police to spend their time preventing gun and knife crimes. As chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority Johnson's position means he is not permitted to be involved in operational matters. Additionally Johnson is prohibited by Section 3, Paragraph 2(d) of the London Assembly Code of Conduct from doing anything that compromises the impartiality of a police officer. Andy Hayman, former Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner, commented that Johnson "was informed of the Green arrest in his position as chairman of the police authority but chose to react in the role of prominent Tory politician" and called Johnson's actions "political interference in operational policing."

A formal complaint against Johnson was filed on 6 December by Len Duvall, alleging that Johnson "is guilty of four 'clear and serious' code of conduct breaches by speaking to Green, an arrested suspect in an ongoing criminal investigation, and publicly prejudging the outcome of the police inquiry following a private briefing by senior officers" and that Johnson has brought the office of Mayor "into disrepute". Johnson admitted to telephoning Green after he had been bailed, an action which Duvall, a former Metropolitan Police Authority chairman, described as "absolutely astonishing and inappropriate," while Stephenson said it would be "entirely inappropriate" to prejudge an inquiry. Johnson had stated that he "had a 'hunch'" that Green would not be charged. The formal complaint gave investigators ten days to decide whether to submit Johnson to formal inquiry by the Standards Board for England, where a guilty verdict could have seen him suspended or removed as Mayor of London, or banned from public office for up to five years.

On 7 January 2009, several sources reported that the Greater London Authority and the Metropolitan Police Authority had decided to pursue a formal investigation of Johnson in-house. The GLA can impose a maximum penalty of three months suspension from office if it finds Johnson guilty.

The GLA announced that Johnson had been found not guilty on all counts on 24 February 2009. However, despite clearing Johnson of any charges, investigator Jonathan Goolden said Johnson had been "extraordinary and unwise" in his actions and should be more careful in the future.

On 16 April 2009, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that it was not going to bring a case against either Damian Green or Galley, the Home Office civil servant who passed data to Mr Green, as there was "insufficient evidence" for either to face charges. This followed the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee criticising Home Office civil servants for prompting the investigation by using "exaggerated" claims about the implications for national security that the leaks held.

Walkout over snow inquiry

On 2 April 2009, Boris Johnson walked out of a House of Commons inquiry midway through giving an answer. He was asked by the Transport Select Committee if he had enquired as to whether there might be problems in the capital due to heavy snowfall. He refused to answer, stood up and left the room. The Greater London Authority transport committee chair Val Shawcross has said that he was not proactive and "entirely out of things". When he moved to leave, the Chair accepted that Johnson had already used the 40 minutes of time he agreed to give the inquiry. Johnson resumed his seat to answer further questions, revealing that he had spoken to Peter (Hendy, head of Transport for London) before 7am on the morning of the heavy snowfall. He also told the inquiry there had been a "staggering quantity of snow" and that his further intervention "would not have made the slightest difference to the difficulties we encountered".

"Chicken feed" remark

In a July 2009 interview with Stephen Sackur on the BBC programme ''HARDtalk'', Johnson referred to the £250,000 per annum income he receives from his side job as a columnist for ''The Daily Telegraph'' as "chicken feed," suggesting that he wrote the columns "as a way of relaxation ... on a Sunday morning," and that he wrote "very fast" so the columns did not take time away from his duties as Mayor. These comments were widely criticised due to the fact that the UK was at the time in economic recession and £250,000 is roughly 10 times the current average yearly wage for a worker in the UK.

Responding to these comments, and in reaction to an upcoming restructuring exercise in which more than 100 jobs are expected to be eliminated at City Hall, the trade union UNISON, which represents 350 GLA staff, staged a protest featuring a "penned-up chicken man" being pelted with chicken feed by a Johnson lookalike in a pig mask.

Veronica Wadley

In October 2009, it was alleged that Johnson had selected former ''Evening Standard'' editor Veronica Wadley as head of the Arts Council For London because of her support for him during his 2008 mayoral campaign. Wadley was described by Liz Forgan, head of the Arts Council, as being "manifestly less qualified than three of her competitors," adding that she had "almost no arts credibility" and that she had been rejected in the first round of interviews by both Forgan and David Durie, being favoured only by Johnson's Cultural Advisor Munira Mirza. Johnson wrote to Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw that he felt Wadley's "fundraising skills and views on music education made her the obvious candidate."

Charitable activity

Johnson is a supporter of many causes, particularly the teaching of Classics in inner city schools, and is a patron of The Iris Project. He has promised to donate £25,000 of his income from his ''Daily Telegraph'' column to such activities.

He has also listed his activities in the Register of Interest at City Hall as:

King’s Head Theatre in Education, Islington, (Patron);

Downside Up, British-Russian Charity in support of children with Downs Syndrome, (Patron);

Henley & District Agricultural Assn., (Member);

Henley 100 Club, (Member).

Johnson has also supported Book Aid International amongst other charities.

In 2006, he took part in a charity football match between England and Germany, consisting of celebrities and former players. He came on as a substitute for England in the 85th minute and infamously rugby tackled former German international Maurizio Gaudino, in a vain attempt to win the ball with his head.

Ancestry

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References

Bibliography

''Johnson's Column'' (Continuum International — Academi) ISBN 0-8264-6855-1

''Friends, Voters, Countrymen'' (HarperCollins, 2001) ISBN 0-00-711913-5

''Lend Me Your Ears'' (HarperCollins, 2003) ISBN 0-00-717224-9

''Seventy-Two Virgins'' (HarperCollins, 2004) ISBN 0-00-719590-7

''Aspire Ever Higher / University Policy for the 21st Century'' (Politeia, 2006)

''The Dream of Rome'' (HarperCollins, 2006) ISBN 0-00-722441-9

''Have I Got Views For You'' (HarperPerennial, 2006) ISBN 0-00-724220-4

''Life in the Fast Lane: The Johnson Guide to Cars'' (HarperPerennial, 2007) ISBN 0-00-726020-2

''The Perils of the Pushy Parents: A Cautionary Tale'' (HarperPress 2007) ISBN 0-00-726339-2

Further reading

Andrew Gimson ''Boris: The Rise of Boris Johnson'' (Simon & Schuster, 2006) ISBN 0-7432-7584-5

Iain Dale ''The Little Book of Boris'' (Harriman House Ltd., 2007) ISBN 978-1905641-64-2

Giles Edwards ''Boris v. Ken: How Boris Johnson won London'' (Politico's Publishing Ltd., 2008) ISBN 978-184275-225-8

A. Vasudevan ''The thinking man's idiot. The Wit and Wisdom of Boris Johnson'' (New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd., 2008) ISBN 978-184773-359-7

External links

Mayor of London ''official London government website'', includes biography

Boris Johnson column archives at ''The Telegraph''

Who do you think you are? Boris Johnson, ''BBC''

;News articles

The Boris Johnson story, Brian Wheeler, ''BBC News'', 4 May 2008

Boris Johnson address about the economic downturn at the Movers & Shakers Property Breakfast, ''Gleeds TV'', March 2009 (video)

Students interview Boris Johnson at the Beyond Sport conference, ''Radiowaves'', 9 July 2009

The NS Interview: Boris Johnson, Jon Bernstein, ''The New Statesman'', 26 February 2010

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Category:Mayors of London Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Category:British journalists Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs Category:English Anglicans Category:English magazine editors Category:English people of American descent Category:English people of French descent Category:English people of German descent Category:English people of Russian descent Category:English people of Turkish descent Category:English political writers Category:Henley-on-Thames Category:Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies Category:Old Etonians Category:People from New York City Category:Presidents of the Oxford Union Category:UK MPs 2001–2005 Category:UK MPs 2005–2010 Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:Critics of the European Union

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name	Cory Booker
order	36th Mayor of Newark, New Jersey
term start	July 1, 2006
predecessor	Sharpe James
order2	Central Ward Council Member of the Newark City Council
term start2	1998
term end2	2002
birth date	April 27, 1969
birth place	Washington, D.C.
party	Democratic Party
alma mater	Yale Law School (J.D.)Oxford University (B.A.)Stanford University (M.A.)Stanford University (B.A.)
profession	Mayor, Newark, New Jersey
website	www.corybooker.com
footnotes	}}

Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is the Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Booker is a former Newark City Councilman. Booker was elected Mayor in 2006, becoming the 36th mayor of Newark and the third African-American mayor of that city.

Background

The son of African-American parents (Cary and Carolyn Booker were among the first African-American executives at IBM), Booker was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in the predominantly white, affluent town of Harrington Park in Bergen County, New Jersey. He is an alumnus of Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan, where he was a 1986 ''USA Today'' All-American football player. Following graduation, Booker traveled west to study at Stanford University and earned a B.A. in political science in 1991 as well as an M.A. in sociology the following year. He played varsity football — he made the All–Pacific Ten Academic team — and was elected to the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) council of (four) presidents. In addition, he ran The Bridge, a student-run crisis hotline and organized help for youth in East Palo Alto, from Stanford students. While at Stanford, Booker also became good friends with Rachel Maddow.

After Stanford, Booker earned a Rhodes Scholarship and studied at The Queen's College, Oxford, where he was awarded an honours degree in modern history in 1994. While at Oxford, he became friends with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and became President of the L'Chaim Society, the local chapter of Chabad, and brought together a diverse community there.

Booker obtained a J.D. in 1997 from Yale Law School, where he started and operated free legal clinics for low-income residents of New Haven. He was also a Big Brother, and was active in the Black Law Students Association. Booker lived in Newark during his final year at Yale and following graduation served as Staff Attorney for the Urban Justice Center in New York and Program Coordinator of the Newark Youth Project.

From 1998 to 2006, he lived in Brick Towers, a troubled housing complex in Newark's Central Ward. Booker organized tenants to fight for improved conditions. In November 2006, as one of the last remaining tenants in Brick Towers, Booker left his apartment for the top unit in a three-story rental on Hawthorne Avenue in Newark's South Ward, an area described as "a drug-and gang-plagued neighborhood of boarded-up houses and empty lots." Brick Towers has since been demolished and a new mixed-income development will be built there in 2010.

Booker received an honorary ''Doctor of Humane Letters'' (''honoris causa'') degree in May 2009 from Newark-based New Jersey Institute of Technology after serving almost 3 years as mayor for 'his outstanding career in public service as mayor of the City of Newark'. He also received an honorary ''Doctor of Humane Letters'' (''honoris causa'') degree in December 2010 from New York-based Yeshiva University for 'his bold vision for Newark and setting a national standard for urban transformation'. Mayor Booker received an honorary ''Doctor of Laws'' degree in June 2011 from Williams College for the urban transformation of New Jersey's largest city, Newark. He was also the 2011 Williams College Commencement speaker.

Central Ward Council Member

In 1998, Booker won an upset victory, beating four-term incumbent George Branch to get elected to the Newark Municipal Council, a council known for serving the Central Ward Community and for hard-fought elections.

Once on the Council, Booker proved to be an unconventional public official. In 1999, he went on a 10-day hunger strike, living in a tent in front of one of Newark's public housing projects (Garden Spires), to protest open-air drug dealing and the associated violence. While serving as Councilman, he spent five months living in a motor home, parking "near the most notorious drug corners" to draw attention to the situation. He proposed a variety of Council initiatives that impacted housing, young people, law and order and the efficiency and transparency of City Hall, but was regularly rebuffed by a resistant Municipal Council and often outvoted 8–1. While on the Council, Booker became an outspoken advocate of education reform.

2002 Mayoral run

In 2002, rather than run for re-election as Councilman, Booker decided to run for Mayor of Newark. This pitted him against longtime mayor Sharpe James. In this campaign and the next, James' supporters questioned Booker's suburban background, calling him a carpetbagger who was "not black enough" to understand the city. Booker was defeated, 53 percent to 47 percent.

After concluding his service as Central Ward Councilman, Booker in 2002 founded Newark Now, a grassroots non-profit organization that connects Newarkers to useful resources and services in order to help transform their communities. In addition, Booker also became a partner at the West Orange, law firm Booker, Rabinowitz, Trenk, Tully, Lubetkin, DiPasquale and Webster, and a senior fellow at Rutgers University's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. Booker is currently a member of the Board of Trustees at Teachers College, Columbia University, and was formerly a member of the Executive Committee at Yale Law School and the Board of Trustees at Stanford University.

2006 Mayoral run

As expected, Cory Booker announced on February 11, 2006, that he would again run for mayor, an intention he had made clear after his loss in 2002.

On March 6, 2006, Deputy Mayor (and State Senator) Ronald Rice entered the race, adding "that Mayor James had encouraged him to run but noted that if the mayor decided to join the race, his candidacy could change." On March 27, 2006, James announced that he would not seek a sixth term, preferring to focus on his seat in the New Jersey Senate.

Rice ran a campaign attacking Booker for raising over $6 million for the race. Booker's campaign outspent Rice's 25 to 1. Booker tried to identify Rice as a "political crony" of former mayor Sharpe James, to whom Booker lost in 2002.

On Election Day, May 9, 2006, Newark's nonpartisan election took place. This time Booker won with 72 percent of the vote, soundly defeating Rice. Booker's entire slate of City Council candidates, known as the "Booker Team," swept the Council elections, giving Booker firm leadership of the city's government.

Before taking office as mayor, Booker sued Sharpe James’ administration in order to terminate cut-rate land deals favoring two redevelopment agencies. Each organization had recently been created by the Municipal Council and listed Sharpe James as a member of its advisory board. The Municipal Council claimed that these low prices were necessary to promote development in Newark's blighted neighborhoods; however, Booker argued that the state’s “pay-to-play” laws had been violated and would furthermore cost the city more than $15 million in lost revenue if these land deals were approved at the next council meeting. Specifically, Booker referenced a case on Broad and South streets – a piece of land that would generate $87,000 under the proposed land deals yet was valued at $3.7 million under current market rates. On June 20, 2006, Superior Court Judge Patricia Costello ruled in favor of Booker, stating that his attorneys had "made a persuasive argument that campaign contributors were given discounted land deals."

In late June 2006, before Booker took office, New Jersey investigators foiled a plot, led by Bloods gang leaders inside four New Jersey state prisons, to assassinate Booker. The plot was led by New Jersey Bloods gang leader Lester Alford, an inmate in East Jersey State Prison in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. The plan called for prisoners in four New Jersey state prisons to riot and then for Bloods gang members on the outside to assassinate Booker simultaneously. The threats against Booker were believed to be in response to Booker's campaign promises to increase the number of police on the streets and take a harder line on crime.

2010 Election

Mayor Cory Booker defeated his opponents in a nonpartisan election on May 11, 2010. The final results were Cory A. Booker 21,397 votes; Clifford J. Minor 12,924 votes; Yvonne Garrett Moore 1,629 votes; Mirna L. White 415 votes.

Mayoral administration

Booker assumed office as mayor of Newark on July 1, 2006, and is only the third person to govern the city since 1970. After his first week in office, Booker announced a 100-day plan to implement reforms in Newark. Some of the proposed changes included: adding police officers, ending background checks for many city jobs, an effort to help former offenders find employment in the city, refurbishing police stations, improving city services, and expanding summer youth programs.

On October 16, 2006, Booker formally introduced his administration's first adopted Newark City Budget. The approved $697.1 million budget resulted in an 8.3% increase in the city's property tax, which is one of the largest property tax increases in the city's history. The budget also increased the number of city employees from 3,968 to 4,197. These increases were cited as necessary to fix the structural financial deficit and secure a solid foundation for Newark’s future. Booker pledged to not increase taxes the following year, a promise he kept – the City of Newark has not raised taxes in over two years. His administration has also since reduced the size of government with a 2009 Budget proposal containing 3935 city employees. In addition, the City of Newark has for the last two consecutive years received the GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award, reflective of the Booker Administration’s continued commitment to an honest, transparent budgeting process ending decades of neglect and setting a foundation to balance the city’s finances.

One of the mayor's first priorities was to reduce the city's crime rate. Booker appointed Garry McCarthy, former Deputy Commissioner of Operations of the New York City Police Department, as the director of the Newark Police Department. Public safety in Newark has been overhauled under Director McCarthy’s lead. A new Central Narcotics Division was created as well as a Fugitive Apprehension Unit, which has been responsible for the capture of 11 out of 12 Most Wanted Felons in Newark. In addition, major technological advances have been made to crime-fighting initiatives such as citywide camera and gunshot detection systems. Community-oriented and privately funded programs such as the Crime Stoppers and Gun Stoppers anonymous tip lines have made an important impact in crime prevention and apprehension of criminals in Newark. Crime reduction has been such a central concern to the Booker Administration that Booker, along with his security team, was known to personally patrol the streets of Newark until times as late as 4 a.m. early in his first term.

Crime has dropped significantly in the city of Newark, which currently leads the nation in violent crime reduction. From 2006 to 2008, crime dropped by the following percentages: murders 36%, shooting incidents 41%, rapes 30%, and auto thefts 26%. In 2008, Newark had its lowest murder rate since 1959. Despite the success indicated by these statistics, as the global economic recession set in, robberies rose 27% in 2008 and another 10% through late June 2009. As of July 26, 2009, murders are down 42% overall, rapes are down 41% overall and robberies are down 12% since 2008.

The month of March in 2010 marked Newark’s first murder-free month in over 44 years. As of April 1, 2010, the murder rate in Newark was the second best since 1941 and crime rates for aggravated assaults, robberies, carjacking, and shootings were also down for the first quarter compared to 2009.

In addition to lowering crime, Booker has both doubled the amount of affordable housing under development and quadrupled the amount under predevelopment. Booker has slashed the city budget deficit from $180 million to $73 million.

Despite criticisms, Booker has also raised the salaries of many city workers. Most recently, however, the Booker Administration and the City of Newark imposed one-day-a-month furloughs for all non-uniformed employees from July through December 2010, as well as two-percent pay cuts for managers and directors currently earning more than $100,000 a year. Citing the reason for the pay cuts, Booker noted, “In 2006, we took over a city in financial crisis. We have made significant steps to address our financial future and decided that we would not balance the budget on the backs of our residents.” Booker has reduced his own salary twice since taking office, voluntarily reducing his salary by 8% early in his first year as mayor. None of Booker’s senior managers have received pay increases since taking office.

Mayor Booker’s leadership has attracted approximately $100 million in private philanthropy to the City of Newark and a variety of nonprofits and public/private partnerships have been created and used to better the lives of Newark residents. In April 2008, the Newark Charter School Fund was established to provide grants in support of Newark’s charter schools to support a successful public school system in Newark. The City of Newark also works with GreenSpaces, which has committed $40 million toward the largest park expansion initiative in over a century with a total of twenty-one park construction and rehabilitation projects scheduled for completion in every ward by the end of 2010. To support the Newark Police Department, the Newark Police Foundation was established in 2006 and provides funding and other services to the Police Department which has had a significant impact on the NPD’s ability to pay for necessary resources that would otherwise not be readily funded through the department’s budget.

In 2009, after President Barack Obama became president of the United States, Booker was offered the chance to head the new White House Office of Urban Affairs Policy; Booker turned the offer down citing a commitment to Newark.

In an effort to make government more accessible, Booker's administration has held regular open office hours during which city residents can meet personally with the Mayor to discuss their concerns.

Booker was honored in October 2009 by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence with the Sarah Brady Visionary Award for his work in reducing gun violence.

Booker made news when on December 31, 2010, a constituent used Twitter to ask the mayor to send someone to her father's house to shovel his driveway because her father, who was 65 years old, was going to attempt to do it himself. Booker responded by tweeting; "I will do it myself; where does he live?" Other people volunteered, including one person who offered his help on Twitter and 20 minutes later the mayor and some volunteers showed up and shoveled the man's driveway. In 2010, Samepoint released a study that measured the social media influence of mayors around the country, and ranking the top 100 most social mayors. San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom was named the Most Social Mayor in America according to the Samepoint study. Newark, New Jersey Cory Booker was the second most social mayor, according to the Samepoint study.

Booker is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by Boston mayor Thomas Menino and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Booker delivered the commencement address at Pitzer College in Claremont, California, on May 15, 2010. In his address, he implored graduates to "just be you" and related several anecdotes about his own education and career, including one pertaining to a chance meeting on a plane with a woman and her children. At the end of the flight, he exchanged phone numbers with the woman, who contacted him during his first mayoral campaign, becoming a donor. One of her children became a campaign worker, fifteen years after the flight. His speech was enthusiastically received and he received a standing ovation.

Two days later Booker also delivered the commencement address at Columbia University's Teachers College in New York City on May 17, 2010, and at Suffolk University Law School a week later in Boston on May 23, 2010.

Mayor Booker delivered the commencement address to New York Law School graduates on May 13, 2011 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center.

He was among the finalists for the 2010 World Mayor prize, ultimately placing seventh.

Booker sits on the board of advisors of the political action committee Democrats for Education Reform.

Senior Cabinet

His senior cabinet consists of the following members: Modia Butler, Chief of Staff to the Mayor;

Anthony Santiago, Deputy Chief of Staff;

Margarita Muñiz, Deputy Mayor for Neighborhood Engagement;

Anne Torres, Office of Communications Acting Director;

David Giordano, Senior Advisor to the Mayor;

Hon. Julien X. Neals, Esq., Business Administrator;

Michael E. Greene, Esq., Assistant Business Administrator;

Adam Cruz, Assistant Business Administrator;

Kecia Daniels, Personnel Director;

Keith Isaac, Emergency Management Director;

Darlene Noble, Affirmative Action Manager;

Nelida Valentin, Newark Works Newark's One-Stop Operator Director;

Michele Ralph-Rawls, Staff Operations Director

Claudia Granados, Advisor to the Mayor on Labor Relations;

Stefan Pryor, Director & Deputy Mayor for Housing Economic Development;

Conan O'Brien "feud"

On September 23, 2009, on ''The Tonight Show'' host Conan O'Brien made the following joke: "The mayor of Newark wants to set up a citywide program to improve residents' health. The health care program would consist of a bus ticket out of Newark." Booker responded in a satire YouTube video telling Conan O'Brien to apologize, and that Conan is banned from ever entering Newark Liberty International Airport by putting him on the "No fly list." The video was made in humor. Conan responded by further making fun of Newark saying the only way he could get to Newark now would be like everyone else, "through a series of poor decisions." He also called out Cory Booker to come on the show to air out their grievances. Booker subsequently banned Conan from the state of New Jersey as well as all the sister cities of Newark on another satire video. In response, Conan read a letter on air from Elizabeth, NJ, Mayor Chris Bollwage, declaring that he will temporarily rename Terminal A of Newark Liberty (which lies in Elizabeth) the Conan O'Brien Terminal. Conan did a skit in which he complimented all the cities around Newark and said he had created a "geographic toilet seat" around Newark. The mayors of Bayonne, East Orange, Kearny, Jersey City, and Elizabeth have publicly sided with Conan O'Brien. He ended this by saying, "Your move, Mayor Booker." The feud was unofficially ended when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for it to end during a prepared comedy bit, telling Booker to chalk it up to Conan's head injury suffered less than two weeks earlier. Mayor Cory Booker appeared as Conan's first guest on ''The Tonight Show'' on Friday October 16, 2009, and assured viewers that the feud was over and that he was actually a big fan of Conan O'Brien. They settled their feud with a deal that every time Conan made a joke about Newark, Conan would put $500 in the Newark jar, and the money would be donated to the City of Newark. Conan then made the following joke, "You can trust that this jar is safe because it is not in Newark," after which Conan placed the first $500 in the jar. Conan then made a $50,000 donation to the Newark Now charity, which was matched by NBC Universal, totaling $100,000.

See also

List of mayors of Newark, New Jersey

References

External links

for Speaking Engagements

The Next Wave of Urban Reform, ''City Journal,'' Fall 2010

2007 ''City Journal'' article on Booker and Newark

Official Mayor Site

Cory Booker Official Campaign Site

CityMayors profile

School Choice and Government Reform: Pillars of an Urban Renaissance by Cory Booker

The Downwardly Mobile Cory Booker at archive.org

Newark Now website

Official web site for Street Fight

PBS's series P.O.V.'s web site for Street Fight

Wall Street Journal interview

Article in Salon.com about the harsh 2002 race for Mayor

New York Metro piece on Booker entitled "The New Natural"

Interview with Cory Booker ''The Brian Lehrer Show'' WNYC February 24, 2006

Huffington Post">Cory Booker's posts at Huffington Post

"100 To Watch: Cory A. Booker" ''Democratic Leadership Council''

"Cory Booker, Jerome Champagne, World Championship Dominos" June 20, 2006 ''The Conversation'' WNYC

"NPR Morning Edition: Newark Mayor: New Black Leaders Must Innovate 08/08/2006"

"NPR All Things Considered: Leading Newark, One of America's Deadly Cities, 2006-12-19" features an interview with Booker

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