Capital show: what he said, & what he did
HOUSING ‘We out-built Labour with more than 100,000 affordable homes’ What was the issue?
London was, and still is, facing a housing crisis as the number of affordable homes in the capital was outstripped by the rising population growth.
What did he do?
Official figures show more affordable homes were built during Mr Johnson’s two terms in office than under Ken Livingstone. According to the Greater London Authority, from April 2008 to March 2016 94,001 affordable homes were built.
What happened?
London’s population continued to grow by about 100,000 a year while Mr Johnson was in office. The definition of an affordable home was broadened in 2011.
What has happened since?
Sadiq Khan has said work on 14,544 affordable homes began in 2018-19. But the population continues to rise.
CRIME ‘We cut the murder rate by 50pc’ What was the issue?
In the year Mr Johnson became mayor there were 163 murders in the capital. In his 2008 manifesto he pledged to cut knife and gun crime and make the issue a “high priority for the police”.
What did he do?
Mr Johnson oversaw a threefold increase in the use of stop and search powers, from 34,154 a year to 123,335 in the first year of the operation.
What happened?
The number of murders in the capital fell to 109 in 2016, the year he stood down. The homicide rate fell from 22 per million to 12 per million – a 50 per cent cut as a proportion of population. The total number of knife offences was also marginally lower at the end of his mayoralty. However, a Home Office study in 2016 concluded that the threefold increase in stop and search had brought “no discernible crime reducing effects”.
What has happened since?
As home secretary, Theresa May limited the use of stop and search amid concerns that the policy was racist. There was subsequently an increase in knife crime, reaching 130 homicides in 2018 – the highest level for a decade. Police have since been given greater scope to use their powers of stop and search.
POVERTY ‘When I became mayor we had four of the six poorest boroughs in the UK. When I left office we had none of the bottom 20’ What was the issue?
According to the “index of multiple deprivation”, a government measure that combines income, employment and education, in 2007 Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Newham were among the six most deprived local authorities in the country. Furthermore, Islington was eighth.
What did he do?
London benefited from significant levels of regeneration for the London Olympics. Mr Johnson also expanded the London Living Wage, which had been introduced by his predecessor, Ken Livingstone.
What happened?
By 2015 not a single London borough was in the list of the 20 most deprived boroughs in the UK. Unemployment, child and pensioner poverty rates had all improved. However, the Trust for London reported that 27 per cent of Londoners were actually living in poverty after rising housing costs were taken into consideration.
What has happened since?
The previous measure of deprivation was replaced in 2015. Charities have raised concerns that while some measures of deprivation have improved in London, many people in the capital are still living in poverty once housing costs are factored in the calculations.