Boris Johnson was lucky. His mayoral opponent, Ken Livingstone, painted such a nightmare picture of a Conservative victory at City Hall that Boris took office with few people expecting very much.

For a politician, taking power with few public expectations is a significant advantage. His first 100 days must therefore be seen against this background – and also in the context of the national political scene, where all eyes are on a Tory general election victory.

The Mayor of London’s first weeks will have been stressful. Replacing the ancien régime proved complicated: British government eschews US-style changes of administration, where a mayor or President takes two months to appoint their team. In this country, we are used to “sudden death” changeovers. The need to appoint his deputy mayors and advisers at double-quick speed led to two highly publicised glitches.

But there have thus far been no further problems and it is now possible to start to judge both the Johnson team and its purposes. The new mayor’s first weeks have seen him concentrating on knife crime, but also on the policing of public transport. Alcohol has been banned on buses and the Tube. There has been a distinct “law and order” message, though it is gentle by the standards of the traditional “hang-’em-and-flog-’em” Toryism.

Boris has signalled an end to the excesses of Ken Livingstone’s “tower blocks for all” policy, though high-rise buildings will still be allowed in appropriate locations. He has also made it clear that there will be tight control on budgets and a cull of officials at City Hall. These latter ideas are not surprising for a Tory mayor. However, his public support for US presidential candidate Barack Obama was.

It has not been the chaotic disaster Labour was predicting. The Borisocracy is more of a Cabinet than Livingstone’s Stalinist caucus. It is jollier. But it remains to be seen if Boris can evolve a clear picture of what he wants to achieve for London and also if he can keep his team in line. Many of his deputies are clever people used to running their own empires. It may prove hard to ensure that they all speak with the mayor’s voice.

When the Conservatives won control of the Greater London Council in 1977, their leader, the colourful Sir Horace Cutler, was a forerunner of the Thatcher government to come. He pioneered the aggressive sale of council homes, reduced public debt, opposed congestion charging and devolved powers to the boroughs.

Boris Johnson probably does have further ambitions. The success or failure of his years at City Hall will determine how much of a competitive threat he is to David Cameron in years to come. The evidence so far is that modern Tories still hanker after lower taxes, but that they are trying hard to avoid the “nasty party” label. Boris’s successes are good news for Cameron in the short term, but in the longer term possibly less so.

Tony Travers is director of the Greater London Group at the London School of Economics

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