• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

MayorWatch

London News and Comment

  • NEWS
  • COMMENT
  • Twitter

16 Months Till 2008 Mayoral Elections and Still No Rivals

January 17, 2007 - Martin Hoscik@martinhoscik

In 16 months Londoners will be asked to vote in the third GLA elections and choose a Mayor and 25 Assembly Members yet neither of the major opposition parties have yet selected the Mayoral candidates they hope to convince Londoners to back in favour of Labour’s internal shoe-in and incumbent Mayor Ken Livingstone.

Londoners feel they know Livingstone and, despite the assertions of signed up members of other parties, many like what they see and hear. It’ll take a lot of effort and time for any rival to come close to matching him in terms of name recognition so it’s rather depressing for anyone who values true democracy to start another year without a single known challenger for the role.

To be fair the Tories did at least try to select a candidate early but a weak field of self-appointed candidates led party bosses to delaying the process ensuring whoever they finally choose will be open to the charge that they didn’t want the job enough to commit at the earliest opportunity.

Meanwhile a recent poll of Liberal Democrat members suggests they prefer the idea of putting forward a virtual unknown against a media dominating incumbent. After the failure of their best known London MP Simon Hughes to dent Livingstone’s lead in 2004 this suggests a curious lack of reality on their part.

As we’ve argued many times the LibDems and Conservatives need to stop treating the campaign to find and market a Mayoral candidate like some backwater council by-election.

Londoners deserve more than to have some unknown placeman paraded in front of them for a couple of weeks next spring before being handed a safe Parliamentary seat or returning to their well-paid business interests.

Instead of filling the airwaves with constitutionally illiterate nonsense about the need for a General Election when Tony Blair finally steps down opposition leaders and their strategists should start paying attention to an election which offers the victor the UK’s largest personal electoral mandate.

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Comments

  1. London Salmon says

    January 17, 2007 at 7:47 pm

    I agree 100%, the Tories do not seem to take this seriously at the moment, despite the good idea of an open primary. The current field of Tory candidates is morbidly depressing, and the leadership should be pushing someone with a genuine passion for London with electable ideas.

    As to who that is, your guess is as good as mine!

    Mind you, I have some thoughts…

    http://londonsalmon.typepad.com/london_salmon_small_fish_/2006/12/silent_candidat.html

RECENT UPDATES

Crossrail delayed until 2021 and bosses say project could go a further £650 million over budget

TfL uses WiFi data to improve Journey Planner’s accuracy

Mike Brown to leave TfL for new role overseeing Parliament’s renovation

Transport for London seeks views on new Bakerloo line extension plans




Popular

City Hall calls in Deloitte to boost BAME progression and close ethnicity pay gap

City Hall to review pay levels amid recruitment and staff retention concerns

TfL appoints ‘Build to Rent’ partner and promises to built 3,000 new rental homes across London

TfL confirms £1bn deal to sell and leaseback Elizabeth line trains

FEATURED

City Hall halts London Overground ticket office closures but many will still see opening hours reduced

Transport for London confirms bus cuts will go ahead despite passenger opposition

City Hall and TfL publish action plan to cut lorry and van deliveries in London

TfL planning return of annual fare hikes as agency looks to balance books following Crossrail delay

GOT A STORY?

As the original London news and scrutiny site we've been casting an eye over the capital's public services and politicians since 1999.

 

Many of our top stories started with a tip-off from a reader - if you've got something you'd like us to cover get in touch and we'll do the rest.

Stay In Touch

  • E-mail
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2019 MayorWatch Publications Limited · MayorWatch is Registered Trademark · All Rights Reserved · Contact Us · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy

MayorWatch Publications Limited · 20-22 Wenlock Road · London N1 7GU · Company Number 6291816

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.