TV Features

By BBC London's Jonathan Josephs

It's the second 'gaffe' in less than a week and whilst this one may be attributable to one of the mayor's team rather than Mr Johnson himself, it will certainly provide further ammunition to the mayor's detractors.

Racist comments

James McGrath was forced to quit after a website published, purportedly racist, comments that he had made about Caribbean migrants. When the suggestion was made to Mr McGrath that a Boris Johnson mayoralty could trigger "a mass exodus of Caribbean migrants" the Australian told www.the-latest.com "well, let them go if they don't like it here."

The mayor's team say that the comments were taken out of context. They have insisted that Mr McGrath is not a racist, so why have they felt the need to accept his resignation?

Boris Johnson has stressed that there is a need for "crystal clarity on a vital issue like this." Whilst such transparency from the mayor's office might be essential in a cosmopolitan multi-racial city like London, it's fair to say that a climate of fear may have helped the Conservatives make up their mind.

In years gone-by Mr Johnson has been forced to apologise for remarks that have been deemed to have racist connotations. Now that he represents one of the most diverse cities on the planet he really must be seen to be running a tight-ship.

Apology not good enough

James McGrath has been an influential figure at Conservative Central Office and it seems that even his work for the Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, hasn't been enough to save him. He hasn't been offered the chance to apologise and get on with the job as his boss did after insulting the people of Papua New Guinea and Liverpool.

Mr Johnson knows that the vultures are circling overhead, especially after last week's blunder about the existence of an Olympic memo, and he no doubt feels that he has to take a zero-tolerance approach.

The mayor has told BBC London that "James himself resigned, but I can assure you that it was absolutely no intervention from any other emanation of the Conservative party whatever."

It seems that the mayor is certainly keen to show that he, and he alone, is in control of his team, and that he won't stand for any indiscipline. Labour opponents on the London Assembly have taken the chance to question the mayor's judgement in picking his team.

With the mayor having made it clear that he will be relying on his delegating style to get his job done, his political rivals will no doubt be paying ever more attention to the spokes as well as the hub of the mayoral bicycle-wheel.