And they’re off! The runners and riders have bolted from their stables and the London mayoral race is now officially underway. Braced to face scabrous attack of their respective transport and environmental policies, and the bleatings of Madonna, betting on the field continues to swing away from Ken to Boris, with the Lib Dems’ Brian Paddick barely out the paddock. No mere Boris v Ken affair, the full line-up boasts 10 candidates, all contending for victory in the May 1st election. Likely also-ran’s include English Democrats’, Fathers4Justice geez and GQ’s 92nd Most-Powerful-Man-In-Britain, Matt O'Connor; Left-list candidate, Trotskyist and Convenor of the Stop the War Coalition, Lindsey German; and Christian Peoples Alliance and Christian Party (did they mentioned they’re Christians?) representative, ex-Labour man and mosque nimbyist, Alan Craig.

How come there are ten? Why didn’t you enter your mates? Well, in addition to securing 330 signatures – a stretch of anyone’s Facebook – candidates needed to stump up a £10,000 deposit, repayable on a return of 5% of the vote.

The candidates, in alphabetical order:

Richard Barnbrook - British National Party
Gerard Batten - UK Independence Party
Sian Berry - Green Party
Alan Craig - Christian Peoples Alliance and Christian Party
Lindsey German - Left List
Boris Johnson - Conservative Party
Ken Livingstone - Labour Party
Winston McKenzie - Independent
Matt O'Connor - English Democrats
Brian Paddick - Liberal Democrats

By Noel Titheradge

Image courtesy of 604plonker's Flickrstream.