When former Mayor of London and chief 'Brexiteer' Boris Johnson was announced as the UK's new Foreign Secretary, it's fair to say that the decision was met across the world with incredulity and much amusement. Given the nature of the position, it wasn't too long before internet was rife with talk about Boris as James Bond's boss.
It's not the first time that Boris has been linked with James Bond. Back in October 2015, Daniel Craig told reporters, with tongue firmly in cheek, that Boris was the new James Bond. And when Boris was left dangling on a zip-wire during a live-screen event for the London Olympics in 2012, the stunt was labelled by the national media as James Bond-like.
I don't suppose Boris minds about this coverage, and may actually be flattered by it, as, judging by some of the comments he's made about Bond, he's something of a Bond fan. Most recently, during the EU referendum campaign, Boris appeared to compare the EU with a SPECTRE-like criminal organisation. In a speech, he reminded the audience that the last Bond film, Spectre, had been filmed in his mayoral offices, ‘where James Bond shoots the evil baddie who is hell-bent on subverting democracy around the world through a supra-national organisation. I think there’s a metaphor there,’ he said.
In 2013, during a visit to China to promote London as a place open to investment, Boris told an audience of students that the Chinese-owned Trinity Square in London had doubled as the replacement MI6 headquarters in Skyfall. Boris said, 'if that isn’t openness to China, I don’t know what is.'
Shortly after his zip-wire mishap in 2012, Boris took Arnold Schwarzenegger for a cable car ride across the Thames. To a certain generation, cable cars are synonymous with Where Eagles Dare and Moonraker. I certainly can't ride in a cable car without thinking of the films and judging the distance between my car and the oncoming one as they pass, assessing the practicalities of a jump from one to the other. Boris and Arnie are evidently of a similar mind. In the cable car, Boris reminded Arnie of Where Eagles Dare, in which 'they get out and wrestle on top of the cable car.' Arnie replied that 'they did the same thing in a James Bond movie', before mentioning Jaws. Boris' face lit up. 'Jaws! That's right!'
In addition to his political duties, Boris Johnson is also a columnist. He's referred to James Bond. In some of the columns he's written for the Daily Telegraph, In a piece published in 2010 about the use of helmets on the ski slopes, Boris wrote: 'Each of us must make his or her choice. But I ask you this: does James Bond wear a helmet, when he out-skis the baddie in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service?' Earlier, in 2006, Boris argued that it might be better to talk to the regimes of Iran and North Korea, rather than threaten them, but added that 'if there was some way of quietly disabling Kim's bombs... we should certainly consider it. Where is James Bond these days?' And back in 2003, Boris wrote about his love of the James Bond films and his memory of being taken to the cinema by his father to watch Diamonds Are Forever.
However Boris Johnson will be judged as Foreign Secretary, he's certainly flying the flag for James Bond. Part of that comes from his fondness of the Bond films (and, presumably, the books, which I imagine are required reading at Eton). But for Boris, James Bond is also a source of national pride and a proxy for Britain's position in the world. However illusory such use of James Bond may be, it's been this way ever since Fleming wrote the Bond books, which from the start provided a counterpoint to the national soul-searching in a post-Empire Britain rocked by spy scandals and politically damaged by the Suez crisis.
There has been much speculation in the press and on the web about James Bond's role in the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics. The latest rumour is that Bond will receive a knighthood from the Queen (we'll ignore the fact that Bond turns down a knighthood in The Man with the Golden Gun; it's not that he's averse to the idea of a knighthood, just that he'd refuse to call himself Sir James Bond). Assuming that Bond is present at the opening of the games, what events would he stick around to watch? We know from Bond's obituary in Ian Fleming's You Only Live Twice that Bond, while at school at Fettes, formed friendships among the athletic circles, boxed for the school as a light-weight, and founded a judo class. The judo events begin on the 28th July, while the first round of boxing (light division) takes place the day after. (Incidentally, the regulation weight for the light division is 60kg; Bond's weight in From Russia, with Love is given as 76kg, so by the time Bond was engaged on his adventure in Turkey, he had put on enough weight to box at middle weight.) As for the athletics, I suspect that Bond would be keen to follow the track events. Given that Bond shares many interests with Fleming, it is reasonable to suggest that Bond, like Fleming, was runner at school (Fleming had particular success at Eton with the mile, half-mile, quarter-mile and steeplechase). Round 1 of the 3000m steeplechase takes place on Friday 3rd August, and no doubt Bond will be watching this with interest. Fleming's other running events are now roughly equivalent to the 1500m, the 800m and the 400m. Bond's in for a long busy weekend of Olympic viewing: the first round of the 1500m begins on the 3rd August, Saturday 4th sees the start of the 400m contest, and the 800m competition starts on Monday 6th August.The long jump was another event at which Fleming excelled while at Eton. If Fleming gave Bond his interest in the discipline, then Bond should note that the qualifiers start on the 3rd August. As Fleming was something of an all-rounder, then Bond might also be interested in the decathlon, which includes the long jump, 400m and 1500m.Being a crack shot and, as we learn in 'The Living Daylights', good enough to have a fair chance of winning the Queen's Prize for shooting, James Bond would no doubt be keen to follow the shooting events. In particular, Bond is likely to appreciate the skills demanded in the 50m rifle prone (qualification begins on the 3rd August), the 50m rifle 3 positions (commencing on the 6th August), the 50m pistol (beginning on the 5th August), and the 25m rapid fire pistol (beginning on the 2nd August). As well as an athlete and marksman, James Bond is also a swimmer, as revealed in Live and Let Die and Thunderball. The long-distance swimming events (such as the 1500m freestyle or the 10km marathon) might be of interest to Bond, although, reminiscing about his adventures, he might wonder how the swimmers would manage with a barracuda or two snapping at their toes. However, Bond would probably give the equestrian events a miss. Fleming had a life-long dislike of riding after bad experiences on horses during his youth and at Sandhurst. It is an antipathy that Bond is likely to share.The film Bond has slightly divergent interests. We know from Die Another Day that Bond is handy with the sword, and so might watch some of the fencing events. In Moonraker, Bond takes part in a pheasant shoot, while in Thunderball Largo invites him to shoot a clay pigeon, and Bond might retain enough interest in the pastime to watch the trap shooting in London.Reference:Lycett, A, 1995 Ian Fleming: the man behind James Bond, Turner
