March 15, 2008
Mayoral Update: The Cost Of Livingstone
It's still difficult to tell how the mayoral race is going - where are all the opinion polls? But there's no doubt that, in the past week, the Livingstone campaign has made a huge effort to get its show on the road.
The launch of his transport manifesto at Stratford station on Monday was designed to invite the most damning of comparisons between the present mayor's apparent grasp of the scale and complexity of the coming tasks and his main rival's lack of basic bus maths. Livingstone spoke of the greatest expansion of public transport in London since Victorian times and effectively asked, "Would you want that jackass in charge of it?".
Come Wednesday, Livingstone benefitted from high profile support by his party in the Commons. At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday Islington MP Emily Thornberry lobbed a friendly inquiry Gordon Brown's way about the importance of - you guessed it - London buses. The Prime Minister's answer was a ringing endorsement of Livingstone's record. It remains noticeable that Brown doesn't mention Ken by name, preferring to refer to "a London mayor." But there's no doubt he recognises that a Johnson win on May 1st would represent a great and perhaps prophetic victory for David Cameron's Conservatives.
How have the past seven days been for the MP for Henley? He too asked Brown a question on Wednesday, suggesting they agree that spending a bit less money on public relations and a bit more on putting police community support officers on buses would be a good idea. Brown responded with the latest in a series of quite blatant misrepresentations of Johnson's stated policies, accusing him of wanting to cut spending on everything in sight.
The Blond's frustration was obvious in what has looked a rather frustrating week. His speech on Monday, called The Cost of Livingstone, didn't secure much coverage and he made a boo-boo on Tuesday by suggesting that TfL boss Peter Hendy doesn't travel by bus. In fact, Hendy is well-known for doing so.
He's up in Gateshead now, expending breath at the Tories' spring conference and perhaps pausing to draw a little too. Livingstone is planning a further onslaught on transport issues next week. He'd better be ready for it.
By Dave Hill, image by M@
Read more from Dave over at the Guardian, and on his mayoral blog.
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Love him or hate him Mr. Livingstone of mayoral candidates is ‘independent’ of the main political parties even if Labour appears to endorse him. This makes him a most definite choice for Mayor of London where he can continue to cock-a-snook at party political interests with his famed reference; always; to the people of London’s concerns which government ignominiously ignores.
Anyone can see that the Conservatives; desperate for a credible mayoral candidate; are impelled to foist onto a blasé London public a Conservative ne’er-do-well, a bumble-worded out-of-town toff who’s retainers having constantly to rush to comb down his unruly topknot will note that no relevant CV makes B. Johnson fit to be Mayor of London even with nicely raked hair. If Boris is ‘so cool’ why hasn’t David Cameron got him into the opposition cabinet? ‘David, it’s over to you’. On second thoughts ‘don’t bovver’. –
Yes, he’s likeable (Boris that is) so are Paddington Bear and The Wombles of Wimbledon. These cuddly toys have more relevance to mayoral candidature than tousled haired Home Counties Boris Johnson. Surely?
Boris mate - stay in your home county constituency Henley-on-Thames where I’m sure you will continue to be applauded by fellow Hooray-Henry’s and Henrietta’s for your dexterous punt manoeuvres on balmy Oxfordshire’s River Thames. By the way, Boris, is it true your poling skill once had you hanging on to a slowly sinking punt-pole in the middle of the Henley Thames as you watched your boat full of shrieking, hyperventilating rudderless Annabelle’s and Henrietta’s glide away leaving you stranded mid-river where you were last heard by the first of the evening’s towpath trollers expleting “B_ _ _ _r Me! No Totty Tonight – I’ll pong too much like an Oxfordshire Toad?”