Quotes from new London mayor Boris Johnson

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
London's new mayor Boris Johnson is famous for his political gaffes and sometimes downright offensive turns of phrase - as well as his uncanny ability to shake off controversy. Here are some of his most famous quotes.
  • 2002: On Britain's Commonwealth "It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies."
  • 2002: On a trip by Tony Blair to the Democratic Republic of Congo. "No doubt the AK47s will fall silent, the pangas will stop their hacking of human flesh, and the tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles to see the big white chief touch down in his big white British taxpayer-funded bird."
  • 2001: On gay marriage. "If gay marriage was OK - and I was uncertain on the issue _ then I saw no reason in principle why a union should not be consecrated between three men, as well as two men; or indeed three men and a dog."
  • 2004: On his political ambitions. "My chances of being PM (prime minister) are about as good as the chances of finding Elvis on Mars, or my being reincarnated as an olive."
  • 2004: On President George W. Bush "He liberated Iraq. It is good enough for me."
  • 2008: On ethnicity, to journalist Nihal Arthanayake. "I'm down with the ethnics. You can't out-ethnic me, Nihal ... My children are a quarter Indian, so put that in your pipe and smoke it."