Last week Ken Livingstone suggested City Hall could take over the rest of London’s suburban rail services. Regardless of their political leanings, I suspect many Londoners will think that’s a pretty decent ambition even if they question how Livingstone can be so sure of the cost savings he claims in support of it. Transport for […]
Why 7% of the Mayoral vote may not be too bad for the Lib Dems
Today’s YouGov poll gives LibDem Brian Paddick the support of just 7% of Londoners. If the polls don’t move considerably in his favour, he’s set to finish a long way short of the “best ever” result he promised party members in September. A modest improvement on 7% would see the party just about win 2 […]
How did Boris throw away an 8 point lead?
In less than a year Boris Johnson has tuned an 8 point lead over Ken Livingstone into a 2 point deficit. Was it his decision to push through fare hikes even when City Hall’s own polling showed the cost of travel was a huge concern to Londoners? Perhaps his late return home as London burned […]
The MPA: Scrutinising to the end, but what comes next?
This morning’s final meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) could have been a brief affair. Authority members could have turned up, nodded through the few reports before them and swanned off for a few glasses of civic wine and dry sarnies. Instead they went out the same way they’ve spent the past 11 years […]
After 4 years Boris still doesn’t know how his budget gets passed
In the build up to the 2008 Mayoral election, Boris suggested whoever won could end up needing the support of the BNP to get their budget through. In truth the Mayor’s budget passes unless two thirds of Assembly Members vote to amend it, so it was always unlikely two AMs could hold such power. Despite […]
