I happen to like Boris Johnson. I think he provides a bit of much-needed colour to the political scene, and he seems better at his job than that annoying nasal Red Ken but I don't live in London so what do I know.
But is he worth £250k for a weekly column in the Daily Telegraph? Yes - if they are stupid enough to pay it.
With typical Johnson disregard and seemingly oblivious to the prevailing mood of the nation, Johnson describes this as 'chicken feed'. Well it's not - even when compared to some of the eye-watering salaries available at ITV, Channel 4 and the BBC.
Finally some sense seems to be emerging - the BBC has suspended bonuses for its top execs (quite why they or anyone else on the public payroll needs bonuses I've never been sure) so DG Mark Thompson will only draw a basic of £647k. Similar moves have been made over at 'cash-strapped' Channel 4 - chief exec Andy Duncan has agreed to get out of bed for £600k a year - down nearly £300k on 2008. Which is nice of him.
But Johnson's burden on the taxpayer is just £140k for his salary as London mayor and I don't really care how much PLCs pay in salaries or columnists (and there are some shockingly bad ones on payrolls) as market forces will prevail.
So I suggest that given that the Daily Telegraph's parent company Telegraph Media Group has just posted
a loss of £15.7m for 2008, Johnson enjoys the 'chicken feed' for as long as they are stupid enough to pay it. Soon, he may have to revert to newt feed rations.
