With polls suggesting he remains six points behind Conservative rival Boris Johnson, Livingstone will spend Tuesday touring colleges in bid to secure the backing of the capital’s estimated 90,000 18 years olds.
The former Mayor will also launch his youth manifesto later today.
His key pledge is the previously announced policy to restore the Educational Maintenance Allowance.
Other policies include using the Mayoralty to campaign against further rises in tuition fees, re-establishing a London Child Poverty Commission and working with businesses to promote Saturday jobs.
Speaking ahead of his launch Mr Livingstone said: “Young people in London face one of the toughest times in memory, with 1 in 4 young Londoners now unemployed, rising levels of poverty and inequality, and London becoming an increasingly expensive place to live.
“This is why Young Londoners need to be aware of what is at stake for their future, at this election. By ensuring they are registered to vote and casting a Labour vote on May 3rd they will have a mayor who will ensure they are better off – from cutting the fares to restoring EMA for London.”
Candidates for Mayor include Jenny Jones (Green party), Ken Livingstone (Labour), Lawrence Webb (UKIP) Boris Johnson (Conservative) and Brian Paddick (Liberal Democrat). A full list of candidates can be found here.
Candidates standing as London Assembly constituency members can be found here. Candidates for the 11 Assembly London-wide seats can be found here.
Canary Wharf says
Ken’s claim: Ken says that the money to fund his EMA pledge already exists.
Reality: Channel 4’s Factcheck have independently costed this proposal at £55 million a year. Ken says he would get colleges, universities and local authorities to pay for this pledge but, as Channel 4’s Factcheck found, he has no power to force them to fund it and many have already flatly refused to pay for it (link). £55 million a year is £220 million over a four year term.