Caroline Pidgeon Is The Lib Dem Mayoral Candidate

Rachel Holdsworth
By Rachel Holdsworth Last edited 102 months ago
Caroline Pidgeon Is The Lib Dem Mayoral Candidate

The Liberal Democrats have confirmed Caroline Pidgeon as their mayoral candidate for the 2016 elections.

Though the nomination was a formality — her only challenger, Duwayne Brooks, withdrew from the race early on — Pidgeon is the obvious choice for the London Lib Dems. She's been an Assembly Member since 2008 and her knowledge of London issues is arguably second to none. Expect her to be particularly strong on policing and transport (when the other candidates start touting the idea of a ticket that allows you to transfer between buses without paying a second fare, remember it was the Assembly Lib Dems that came up with it first).

Pidgeon will be hoping to do better than Brian Paddick in 2012, who was beaten into fourth place in the mayoral contest by Green Jenny Jones with just 4.2% of the vote — losing the £10,000 deposit in the process. The party will be looking to the capital to lead a fightback after its dismal showing in the general election, when it lost all but one of its London MPs.

So we know Sadiq Khan will contest the election for Labour, Sian Berry for the Greens and Caroline Pidgeon for the Lib Dems: what about the Conservatives? The BBC has picked up on dissatisfied rumblings from one Tory campaign camp, which has described the selection process as "chaotic". The Tory party ran a similar 'pay a few quid and get a vote' system to Labour, but publicity has been thin with reports of technical glitches stopping people signing up. The party's also being opaque about when the winner will be announced — the BBC understands it "may" be 30 September.

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Last Updated 17 September 2015