Johnson’s ‘prince of darkness’ deputy

Boris Johnson, London’s new mayor, on Thursday injected some private sector discipline into City Hall by appointing Tim Parker, the former chief executive of the AA who has a reputation for cutting jobs, as his first deputy mayor.

Easily identifiable by his mop of curly dark hair, Mr Parker has a controversial image as a ruthlessly efficient turnround executive who cut costs at the AA, Kwik-Fit, Clarks and Kenwood Appliances.

But his strict focus on the bottom line, resulting in 3,500 job losses at the AA, stirred up a political storm over private equity last year and earned him the nickname “the prince of darkness” from trades unions.

Mr Parker sought on Thursday to calm union fears. He told the Financial Times: “I believe in building a good esprit de corps, allowing people to create a great organisation. We can make quite a difference to the everyday lives of Londoners.”

In a private meeting with Unison representatives at City Hall, the new deputy mayor said he was “not here to overturn everything” but to build on the best of what has already been created.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a big difference,” he said. “If I hadn’t taken it I think I would have spent the rest of my life wondering what could have been.”

He will start as chief executive of the GLA Group on July 7 and as chairman of Transport for London on September 1.

Mr Parker’s efforts to improve efficiency at City Hall will be seen as a test of how a Conservative government would deliver on its commitment to cut Whitehall waste and bureaucracy.

The pledges made by Mr Johnson to cut waste and improve accountability – in contrast to his predecessor’s “cavalier attitude to taxpayers’ money” – carry strong echoes of David Cameron’s promises to improve government efficiency.

Political supporters and opponents will be scrutinising any changes to garner ammunition for the next general election – either as a stick with which to beat the government for wasting money or as an example of the threat the Tories would pose to jobs and grants.

Mr Parker, 52, made big personal profits from working at private equity-owned companies, earning £40m from his £6m investment in the AA and £25m in the sale of Kwik-Fit. He will be paid £1 a year for his new job at City Hall.

Asked if he regularly used public transport, Mr Parker said: “I did today in fact and am quite a regular user of the tube, as it is the most practical way to get around London, and I have my Oyster card, so I know what it is like for people.”

He has stepped down after only two months as industrial adviser to CVC Capital Partners, the private equity group that part-owns the AA. CVC said they “wish Tim Parker every success in his new role”. Mr Parker will quit all business interests except his unpaid job as director of PBL Media, the Australian media group.

He was recruited after soundings were taken among Tory-friendly chief executives about a suitable City big-hitter to fill the crucial post of running the GLA. Once chairman of the Labour party at Oxford university, Mr Parker claimed to have been a Conservative party member “for quite some time now”.

“I think the first prince of darkness was probably Peter Mandelson and he should have the serial rights to the name,” he said. “That is all good fun, but there is a serious job to be done here.”