The One London party, which currently has two members on the London Assembly, has announced that party leader Damian Hockney is to run for Mayor in May’s elections.
Hockney and his colleague Peter Hulme Cross were first elected to the Assembly in 2004 for UKIP before following Robert Kilroy-Silk to Veritas where Hockney was deputy leader.
In 2005 the pair founded the One London Party which seeks to support the capital’s business community and jobs.
Since joining the Assembly Hockney has been a vocal critic of the limited scrutiny powers the body has and its ineffectiveness at holding the Mayor to account.
He also ran for Mayor in the first Greater London Authority election in 2000 and recently spoke of his concerns that public meetings and media coverage focus on ‘main candidates’ in an election which claims to be about individuals.
A member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, last November he attacked a decision by unelected members of the MPA to back beleaguered Met Commissioner Sir Ian Blair in a vote of no-confidence.
He’s also called for Government to re-consider a decision not to appoint any business representatives as executive directors of the Crossrail holding company.
Last year he clashed with Tory Mayoral candidate Boris Johnson after he described officers involved in the Stockwell shooting as "trigger happy". Speaking at the time Hockney said the comments showed "Boris Johnson has even less understanding of policing in London than I’d thought."
Hockney was the first Assembly Member to predict an overspending on the 2012 Olympics projecting a £10bn final bill at a time Government was insisting their £2.3bn budget was accurate.
The most recent estimate for the games is in excess of £9bn.
