Boris Johnson: I admire Scarlett Johansson and Marilyn Monroe

London mayor Boris Johnson tells Metro how
Scarlett Johansson has overtaken Marilyn Monroe in the pecking order of people he admires, what his greatest regret in life is and what gets him up in the morning.

Tell us something about you we don’t already know.

I like to relax by painting on cheese boxes. You get Brie and Camembert in these lovely wooden boxes. Now it might sound cretinous – and I’m not a very good painter – but I enjoy it and find it therapeutic. I paint the whole thing white with a tube of children’s paint and I look for something to paint. The last thing I painted was a picture of one of my family in front of the Colosseum in Rome. I also like painting whisky bottles.

If you could click your fingers and change one thing about the world, what would it be?

I’d end war and want and intolerance and injustice.

What is your greatest fear?

Bad things happening to my loved ones.

What gets you up in the morning?

Sheer exuberance and joy at doing this job. I virtually erupt from bed like a rocketing pheasant. I then go for a run, because if you go for a run in the morning, nothing can get worse. You’ve got the bad bit out of the way.

Who do you admire the most?

Aristotle, Marilyn Monroe and Scarlett Johansson – in fact, I think she might have overtaken Marilyn Monroe – and my wife, of course. My wife is way ahead of Aristotle. She’s beaten him in the final furlong.

Tell us about Aristotle.

Aristotle believes that everything is aimed at eudaimonia [happiness] but the way to get there is to apply phronesis, which is a kind of moral wisdom. He’s a brilliant moral philosopher. He also wrote very well on the sex life of cuttlefish and other important subjects. He was the first great Renaissance man – he was interested in everything but everything in moderation.

What is your favourite view?

The view from my window: the Tower of London; Tower Bridge; The City; Canary Wharf. There’s no better view in the world.

What are you proudest of?

In the past three years, I’m proudest of bringing crime down. On public transport, crime is down by 46 per cent since I became mayor, which I think is a very important fact for Metro readers.

What is your greatest regret?

I regret not really cudgelling myself through the piano. I could have been a contender. I only got to Grade 1 and that was after I failed once.

Who’s your favourite politician?

Pericles [495-429BC, a general of Athens]. He’s famous for explaining why democracy is the best form of government. He talked about what made Athens special. He said we have a democracy and in a democracy anyone from any background can make it and his was the first articulation of that in the world. That speech still reads brilliantly. You could put it on the lips of any politician today.

I bet he didn’t set up any cycle superhighways, though.

He didn’t and he didn’t have any Pericles bikes, which I’m sure he’s turning in his grave about. People forget the bicycle was invented in London by Denis Johnson in about 1820.

What is your guilty pleasure?

I’ve been secretly watching the complete series of Colditz, which was produced by the BBC in the 1970s, and it is an absolutely brilliant historical document because it is basically a concealed piece of pro-Euro propaganda. Then there’s mudlarking. I picked up a sheep’s jaw, a pig’s rib, a piece of an ancient pot and a Victorian pipe while mudlarking [along the Thames]. People don’t know what treasures are being washed up on the banks of that great river every day. A historic bounty is running right through this great city and if I wasn’t busy running it I’d be down there with those mudlarks right now.