Boris or Brian?

I'm not choosing boyfriends and it's only a coincidence that their names begin with "B".

The two boys (in the very loosest sense of the word) I'm referring to are Boris Johnson and Brian Paddick.

For readers who live outside the UK (make that outside London, they might have a limited regional audience), one is a politician and one is a (retired) policeman. For the record, Brian is only 49 and took early retirement.

If you're wondering what they look like:

Boris Johnson is a member of the Conservative Party which is not very conservative in some respects. As far as I know he's not gay but then again, who can tell, particularly after the Larry Craig scandal across the Atlantic.

Commander Paddick, as he was then known to the residents of Brixton (I think he has since been raised in rank to Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police) is not.

These two are quite different. One is a rather amusing, if not well-meaning buffoon who, poses a chicken and egg conundrum in relation to Harry Enfield's "Tim Nice But Dim".

The other is a dashing man of action, albeit somewhat greying but that's part of his charm. He also happens to be gay.

Sometimes when I'm asked which sort of older men I fancy, I'm not always able to give a description in a particularly succint way but from now on, Brian Paddick will be my benchmark.

So why do I need to decide between Boris & Brian?

They both plan to challenge Ken Livingstone for his mayoral seat at elections to be held next year.

For more details see here for Boris and here for Brian.

Between the three of them, guess who'll get my vote?