Why we need Boris
Sir: I'm very encouraged to see you doing such wonderful work supporting Boris Johnson in his bid to be Mayor of London (Leading article, 21 July). Yes, it'll be a great laugh and yes, Boris is a great personality and a good match for Ken, but that's not why I think it's so important.
It is crucial for Boris to become Mayor because if as now seems likely, David Cameron and his team of young lightweights are blown away by Gordon Brown at the next election, Boris will be the only high profile Conservative in the country. We'll need him desperately to remind voters that politics doesn't have to be about giving ever more power to a growing government; that there is a party that stands for freedom, and protects tradition and community at the same time. Boris Johnson may seem sometimes a little light on policy, but the important thing is that even if he doesn't articulate Conservatism, he epitomises it.
Derek Harman Petersfield, Hants Sir: You got it just right. The incarceration of Lord Archer robbed us of what could have been one of the great political contests of all time — Jeffrey against Red Ken. Connoisseurs of politics as theatre can only weep at what might have been. Now Boris has entered the ring and the nation lives in hope once more. Boris versus Ken, Dumbledore against Rasputin. In the cant phrase of our time, bring it on.
Chris Nancollas Yorkley, Glos
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