Former editor says Boris Johnson cost magazine £4,000 in parking fines
The future-PM is said to have described the notices accumulating ‘like drifting snow on the windshield’.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.As a motoring correspondent Boris Johnson cost his magazine £4,000 in parking tickets, his former editor has said.
Dylan Jones, who edited fashion and lifestyle magazine GQ for more than two decades until 2021, hired Mr Johnson to work at the Conde Nast title in May 1999 over lunch at Le Caprice.
“There soon appeared to be something of a problem, however, as the managing editor started to get sent rather a lot of parking tickets,” Mr Jones wrote in The Sunday Times.
“And when I say a lot, I mean a lot; in Boris’s own words, they started accumulating ‘like drifting snow on the windshield’.
Mr Jones added: “I once worked out that, over the decade he worked for GQ, Boris had cost us about £4,000 in parking tickets.
“But then he’d also written more than a hundred incredibly funny motoring columns, so I figured it was worth it.”
Mr Jones, who was appointed an OBE in 2013 for services to the publishing and fashion industries, said “interestingly” Mr Johnson never received any speeding tickets.
“And I’ve got a pretty good idea why,” Mr Jones added.
“When the cars were delivered to his house in Islington, the car company always made a note of the mileage, something that is standard practice. The mileage would also be noted when they came to pick them up again. And on more than one occasion — OK, on many, many, many occasions — the mileage was precisely the same. So I leave you to draw your own conclusions.”
The Prime Minister continues to be under scrutiny over the partygate affair, with former Conservative minister Steve Baker telling The Daily Telegraph on Saturday the lockdown breaches in Downing Street could significantly hurt the Tories at the local elections on May 5.
But the PM has resolutely backed himself still to be in power in the autumn.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.