Boris Johnson appoints new deputy Roger Evans as his return to parliament nears
Boris Johnson appointed Roger Evans as statutory deputy mayor for London yesterday. He will stand in for Johnson on occasions when the Mayor himself cannot be present.
Evans, will take up the new role on 13 May, shortly after Johnson is expected to been elected as an MP.
There has been speculation about how Johnson will divide his time if he is elected to the Commons, while also finishing his term in City Hall.
With more demands on Johnson, the burden on Evans is likely to be greater than on his predecessors.
Sadiq Khan, Labour’s shadow London minister, said: “More and more senior members of Johnson’s team have left for other jobs and now he has appointed a deputy mayor who no one has ever heard of. Londoners are wondering who is actually going to be running the city over the next year?”
The vacancy arose when incumbent Victoria Borwick, was selected by the Tories to replace Sir Malcolm Rifkind as MP for Kensington and Chelsea.