21: Lunch with Leon episode 21 - Steve Norris

With a long and illustrious career in business and transport, Steve Norris is best-known as Minister for Transport in London (1992-7) “the toughest job I ever did.”No-nonsense and straight-talking, he ran for Mayor of London in 2000 and 2004, but lost on both occasions to Ken Livingstone who, he tells Leon Daniels, was “the best Mayor by a country mile.”There are terrific anecdotes about London Buses, leading into the real reasons we don’t have conductors anymore and the incentives required to offer a good service.Turning to the recent Transport for London (TfL) financial rescue package from the government, he skilfully dissects the politics and personalities involved.We also find out what he really thinks of Boris Johnson (who he says is a ‘sofa’) and what Steve Norris would do if he was Prime Minister…