Next year two of the highest profile politicians in the UK will compete for the post of Mayor of London.
Many people know a great deal about Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone, each are loved and loathed in equal measure and both have the proven ability to argue convincingly that black is white and up is down.
For City Hall watchers like myself this makes for great theatre, the entire London media is salivating at the prospect at these political godzillas locking horns, even if some of us wish they’d move on from fighting the 2008 contest.
As in past years, the Mayoral hopefuls will be strutting their stuff in a series of hustings during which Ken and Boris will merrily twist, distort and caricature one another’s records and policies.
After each event London’s media will, as always, do its best to point out the inaccuracies and temper the more boastful claims against both candidates’ record in office.
But in addition to a robust and knowledgable media, a healthy democracy also needs dissenting, informed and respected voices within the electoral process itself.
With London’s Liberal Democrats in a spin trying to find a way not to end up with Lembit Opik heading their 2012 campaign, the Green Party has a chance to provide that voice.
Of the three hopefuls competing to become the party’s Mayoral candidate, Jenny Jones offers the unique advantage of having harried, supported and disagreed with both Livingstone and Johnson.
After three terms at City Hall, Jones is a widely respected, heavyweight politician in her own right and one of the few politicians anywhere in Britain capable of holding their own in a debate with Ken and Boris.
As coverage of her bid across the BBC, Evening Standard, local, specialist and online media shows, Jenny has the profile and relationships to attract more than the legal minimal of coverage which blights smaller parties and ensure the Green message is heard loudly throughout the campaign.
We all know the Green Party candidate isn’t going to be Mayor, but selecting Jenny Jones would ensure the victor had faced a determined, robust and informed challenger.
