BRITAIN has beaten France in one race to win the 2012 Olympics — the air miles travelled by ministers to lobby for their capital cities.
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In recent weeks the Government has put on a remarkable sprint finish, tearing around the world in a last-miniute dash to promote London, while the confident French frontrunner has barely broken a sweat.
Jean-Francois Lamour, the French sports minister who is the most senior government member in charge of promoting Paris to the International Olympic Committee, has only one foreign trip this month before the decision in Singapore on July 6. By contrast, Richard Caborn, the Sports Minister, has been to three countries in the past three weeks and is due to visit four more to squeeze in vital lobbying.
Tessa Jowell, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, is currently in Japan “talking to the media, sports and political leaders about the London bid”, her advisers said.
She and Mr Caborn will have visited 12 countries in the past two months to boost London 2012, shoring up support in Asia, America, Africa, and they are planning a final whistlestop tour of Europe next week.
Waiting for the pair at the finish line is Tony Blair, one of only two political heads of state so far confirmed to be travelling to Singapore before the decision.
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As July 6 looms, the days and hours become increasingly vital to persuade any waverers among members of the IOC, culminating in a glittering reception in Singapore on the eve of the vote.
Mr Blair will be working the room of 115 voting IOC members with his wife Cherie, who is an official ambassador for the London bid, and David Beckham, the England football captain.
But President Chirac’s office said yesterday that he had not yet decided whether to go to Singapore, nearly a month after Mr Blair announced that he would definitely attend.
President Chirac is widely expected to be there, along with Mayor Bloomberg for New York and Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Spanish Prime Minister, with the Queen of Spain, for Madrid, but his delay in announcement has generated some unease for the Paris team.
Mr Blair said he was going to Singapore, despite having to leave immediately for the G8 summit, “because the most important thing I can do is always to show people that the Government is absolutely behind the bid”.
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John Zerafa, head of government relations at London 2012, said that “full government support is one of the key issues when awarding the bid, and we certainly have that. For the Prime Minister to fly to Singapore when he is chairing the G8 in Scotland the next day is just amazing.”
President Chirac has been heavily involved in previous French bids so has the advantage of experience and personal contacts when lobbying behind the scenes during his diplomatic trips.
But Mr Blair is prized by the London team for his persuasiveness in one-on-one sesssions, working well with his wife who, for example, used her controversial trip to Washington for a speaking engagement earlier this month to promote the London campaign. President Chirac’s spokesman denied press reports that he was planning to stay longer than Mr Blair in Singapore to remain for the vote and arrive late at the G8 summit, hosted by Tony Blair in Gleneagles.
The French media have, however, been pointing out that a decision to give the games to Paris would be a boost that M Chirac, now one of the most unpopular presidents in decades, badly needs in his battle with Tony Blair over Europe.
On most counts though, Mr Blair’s ministers have done more of the running than their French counterparts. M Lamour did attend the Berlin meeting of the IOC in April, to which Britain sent Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London.
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But M Lamour, who won a silver medal at the Los Angeles Olympics for fencing, has only one foreign engagement in June, travelling to Almeira in Spain this weekend for the Mediterranean Games.
A spokesman for the Department of Culture Media, and Sport, said that in the next two weeks Ms Jowell and Mr Caborn would be “using every possible minute they can” to lobby for London.
Win or lose, there will be a spectacular free party in Trafalgar Square to mark the finale of London’s bid. Thousands are expected to watch a live broadcast from Singapore of the announcement at 12.46pm.
The party will start at midday and continue until 2pm. It will be led by Dame Kelly Holmes who will be joined by Steve Cram, other bid ambassadors, singer Heather Small and top musicians.
NAIL-BITING VOTE