[Note: LC's been had some server issues yesterday. I blame the weather]
The Green Party’s Sian Berry and Ken Livingstone have made a pact to sort-of endorse each other. More than anything, the move says Ken is seriously worried about his re-election chances.
Explaining the decision on her NS blog, Sian says:
He stands for scrapping affordable housing requirements and abandoning higher charges for gas guzzlers. He opposed the minimum wage and the Kyoto treaty. He has tried to hoodwink London over airport expansion and he was a cheerleader for the war in Iraq. Johnson is no joke, and I cannot bear the thought of London under his cruel and careless control.
As part of the anyone-but-Boris contingent, which seems as prevalent as the anyone-but-Ken crew, I’d say this semi-alliance makes sense from an environmentalist perspective. And given that I see that issue (which includes transport policies) as paramount, I can see her logic. While Ken has to make compromises to the Green Party Assembly members, Boris won’t have to since he’ll have enough Tory candidates to pass his budgets. Paddick has meanwhile ruled himself out of my estimation since he uttered “Porsche have a point” over the £25 charge. Right now Sian has my first vote.
As one of the ‘anyone but Ken’ brigade, I was going to vote Green as my second preference after Paddick, but in view of the above shall do no such thing! The effect of this drivel will be to hand it to Boris on a plate, unfortunately.
I don’t think it’s any particular revelation that this is a close election; Ken has been saying as much since before campaigning started. It may also mean that there will be more votes for allies of Ken in the assembly. It may be that the Tories try to gridlock the Assembly if Ken doesn’t have enough support there, Green or Labour.
Anticant - why on earth, if you can’t stand Ken, were you going to vote for a party that supported him in the Assembly?
I think this is an exmple of very strong, grown up politics on the part of the Greens, in particular, but also Ken.
If only there was more of this in politics where people are able to stand against each other yet also recognise the contribution that their “opponents” had made too. It miles away from the yaa-boo tribalism that has tainted politics in this country for so long.
The point about Boris not needing to work with anyone else is part of the danger of a Johnson mayorship and will mean the rolling back of every progressive measure Livingstone and the assembly have brought in over the last eight years.
It seems to me that Livingstone has many faults, but all of those faults are areas where Boris is far, far worse. The idea of having a pro-war, pro-Bush, anti-Kyoto, gaff prone Mayor who is completely unable to understand, let alone represent, the diversity of London is very frightening indeed.
Am I the only one to notice that the Guardian has published several articles backing Boris Johnson?
Not bad for someone who… well Sian is entirely right. I don’t like Ken Livingstone but Johnson is a deluded idiot, who plays on the fact that he is moderately amusing to convince people he is a nice guy. But just read the drivel he wrote about Iraq, the war against Lebanon (anyone who opposes it is morally equivalent to Mel Gibson, OK), global warming, the free market. He is extremely right wing and unpleasant.
Thought Martin Kettle made an interesting suggestion today (never thought I’d write that sentence) when he promoted Vince Cable as an option…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/mar/22/vincentcable.london08
he’s wittier than Boris, anyway, and if it comes down to personality/being on the radar, which it might with the masses, Cable rates higher than Paddick.
Think the Greens have been grown up and mature as described as above, but not sure how helpful that will be in reality. Is Berry likely to get enough of the vote?
Is Respect A or Respect B running a candidate? Guess Lindsay German will have another go. Ha ha ha.
I’d definitly go for Vince Cable over Paddick. And on top of that, given that the police is pushing for 42 days detention while veryone is opposing it, I was always a bit uncomfortable in voting for someone from such a background.
Come off it Sunny. Paddick understands that 42 days/ 90 days/ seven years and a day is a waste of police time as well as an offence to his every Liberal instinct. The idea of more and more days is pure Blair - Tony and Ian. To his credit (and to the envy of all good people and true) Paddick is persona non grata with both.
Vince would be a great mayor though I fear he wouldn’t stand a chance of winning and politically would be hurt by losing- as one of my favourite characters in politics today I’d prefer him to stay where he is unless there is a real chance of him winning. I don’t think there is unfortunately. Its a ghastly field- I think I come down to Livingstone as the least worst option- mainly because of the transport things which he has done- that is where the mayor has real power and the congestion zone and oyster card are good ideas as are the bus fares and traffic light’s policies. So I’d go for Ken- but it seems a farce that we can’t find a better candidate than Ken and Boris- there are definitely better people in hte Labour and Tory parties than the two they have nominated.
As if to confirm your prejudice about me, I can reveal that as I live next door to the chairman of the City of London Conservatives I was asked (and agreed) to be one of the 10 signatures required to nominate Boris as a candidate.
The only reason I mention this is that I believe the nomination deadline has passed a while ago, so it’s too late for Vince.
Does Paddick support more than 30 days? I hope not.
NB Ken does support *ID cards* does he not?
(Unlike Boris.)
I saw a good poster in Aldwych last week:
HMP London - Open Prison - ID cards must be carried at all times
I can’t see Berry’s endorsement swinging much for Livingstone. At the moment (although it’s early days) he needs to find 14% of the vote from second preferences to go over the top, whereas Johnson needs 2%. I like Sian Berry but sadly she’s not the king-or-queen-maker here.
cjcjc, you old banger,
Back from Mass already? Where’s yr commitment?
I like the sound of yr living arrangements, though. Little wonder you hurry home. I live next door to a south London pimp and about 1000 potheads. Can we come round to yours?
- direct link -
anticant