The Green Party’s contest to select a candidate for 2012’s Mayor of London elections gets underway tomorrow when Jenny Jones, who has represented the party on the London Assembly since 2000, formally launches her bid.
Jones is so far the only known contender to represent the party in the 2012 Mayoral contest which will see Ken Livingstone challenge successor Boris Johnson for the capital’s top job.
The party will announce its candidate in March following a ballot of all London members.
Jones will be joined her bid by fellow Assembly Member Darren Johnson who will serve as her running mate. Johnson unsuccessfully stood as Mayor in the 2000 and 2004 elections.
Media focus on the Mayoral elections means many smaller parties who are seeking election to the Assembly run Mayoral candidates in order to secure television and radio coverage in the hope of boosting their party’s share of the vote in the Assembly ballot.
In a statement Jones said the capital “desperately needs the green measures that a Green Mayor would introduce for a cleaner, safer city. Whether it’s cleaning up on air pollution, investing in public transport, increasing the supply of affordable homes, or keeping the police local, Greens deliver on their promises and work for the whole of London.”