This is the damning conclusion of an audit into the London Development Agency under Ken Livingstone. During his eight years in power, millions were squandered on pet projects, approved without appropriate checks and balances, says the report, which was authored by Patience Wheatcroft at the behest of her long-time pal and occasional back-scratcher Boris Johnson. Contentious projects, like a world-class aquarium in the Silvertown Quays complex, were given Ken's glad-hand and pushed ahead despite......

It turns out that, contrary to popular media opinion, politics is alive and well with our great capital's young. Last night we squeezed into the State of London Debate, an event at Central Hall Westminster hosted by Boris Johnson and his team. A ticket did not guarantee entry and luckily we got there in plenty of time because the event was full to the brim with Londoners, young and old, anxiously waiting to ask......

Londoners tired of their foppish Mayor may have an unlikely saviour come the 2012 elections: bombastic businessman Alan Sugar has suggested that he might stand as Labour Party candidate in the next mayoral election. The ex-Amstrad boss and East End barrow-boy would certainly make a tough figurehead for the city. Whether the ability to amass heaps of dosh and shout at hapless apprentices on TV equips one to run the nation’s capital city is......

May's mayoral election was criticised by psephological purists for being all style over substance: much of Boris' appeal lay in his ebullient media persona, honed by regular appearances on Have I Got News For You. If certain rumours are to be believed, then BBC television shows could be the new proving ground for mayoral candidates - Labour insiders are apparently considering Sir Alan Sugar as their man for the 2012 election. Labour want a......

Wethinks the Livingstone doth protest too much. Our former mayor is upset at the suggestion, made by Boris Johnson, that Ken kept a secret stash of liquor with which to get merry with the wives of Windsor and who knows whom else. A comedy of errors it may be (that's enough poor Shakespeare references. Eds.), but Boris claims that, when he first moved into the Thameside offices, he discovered a secret fridge stocked with......

Boris Johnson has appointed Tim Parker as First Deputy Mayor and Chief Executive of the GLA. Mr Parker is also nominated as Chairman of Transport for London to succeed Boris - who has happily realised he perhaps shouldn't be keeping too many plates in the air - from September. Mr Parker has agreed not to receive a salary but will get a nominal one pound a year for his trouble. £1? Multi-millionaire or no,......

Our lonely PM's glowering grimace doesn't lend itself easily to sympathy, but it would take a heart as hard as granite (or Granita, even) not to feel for Gordon Brown's plight. Having spent ten years waiting for the top job, in just ten months of Brownism Labour finds itself rudderless, mauled in the local elections and turfed out of City Hall. Yesterday was Brown's first appearance in Parliament since last week's calamities, and he......

Orhan* snaps Boris at the Sikh New Year festival of Vaisakhi in Trafalgar Square on Sunday, nicking a policeman's hat As our new Mayor cycles to work, meets the team and starts taking action on annoying alcohol related transport policies, we took a poke about the London blogosphere to see how the dust is settling. London transport guru, Annie Mole, was decidedly cross on election evening, seeing Boris was onto a winner given, "Whatever you......

Time to get your placards out: Camden’s famous snooker hall is threatened with closure, as is Docklands' City Pride pub. The Old Bailey has learned some new tricks: all sorts of extra goodies and historical trials are now available on-line. The people at Moorfields really are very clever: now they’re playing with gene therapy. Sex in a different City: the film is to premiere in London. Coldplay are nice people. Well, they’re playing a......

ULU hustings shot courtesy of lewishamdreamer's Flickrstream The shape of the remainder of the mayoral race came into sharper focus last week thanks to one conspicuous absence, one opinion poll and three supposedly “secret” children. The absence was Boris Johnson’s from Time Out’s hustings at ULU on Wednesday, which Ken Livingstone, Sian Berry and Brian Paddick all attended. Why did The Blond not appear? That depends on whom you talk to. Time Out complained that......

We've all done it. Sat in the pub, arguing about the merits of the mayoral candidates and perhaps, journos aside, thought, "if only they were all a bit more down-to-earth, a bit more normal, more like you and me..." Well, here's a solution. www.londonelectsYOU.co.uk gives everyone the chance to put themselves forward as an independent candidate. Yes, even you.* Or that ambitious, politically savvy mate of yours who you think would actually do a......

Time Out gave us a plug yesterday, so it's only fair we return the favour (cos they're, like, a tiny, struggling outfit who need a bit of profile raising). Editor-at-Large Michael Hodges is standing for Mayor. Hate him or loathe him, the bespectacled columnist certainly lives London in a way the other candidates do not. His weekly adventures take him to every corner of town, where he orders a drink, dispenses an insult and......

The Chinese New Year Celebrations in Soho are undoubtedly one of the highspots of London’s cultural calendar, and this year there’s a load of extra stuff (some would say hype) going on ‘cos of the Beijing/London Olympic connection. Last year’s ceremonies were the biggest outside China, and this year’s look set to be even more impressive. So here’s a special Londonist round up of where to see and what to do…. 6th February: kick......

We've not done very well on the virtuous January front and seem to have spent all our money and most of our nights out on the lash with a flagrant disregard for propriety and our bank account. We don't mind though because, as usual, there are some excellent free things to do in town this week. Monday: British Asian gangsta folk ska punk is where it's at with the intriguing sounding Barbar Luck at......

Ken Livingstone's certainly had a tough few weeks. For starters, Boris Johnson finally began to get his act together on a few fronts. He's got a new website, a new team, and he's had some success in generating noise around policy issues - most notably, knife crime. Still, when push came to shove, Ken came out well on ITV's first Mayoral debate, where - as expected - he clearly knew more than his opponents.......

Before the demolition of Old London Bridge, whose narrow arches restricted the flow, the Thames used to freeze over in the coldest winters. In such years, the denizens of London would gather on the ice for a frost fair. Here's how it might look today. Although we suspect that icing over the Thames would be easier than freezing modern health and safety rules. As a yuletide bonus, we'll be doing a seasonally themed Touch......

We've not lately delved into what's been bubbling away in the run-up to London's elections next year. So Wilkommen, Bienvenu, Welcome to this new and possibly occasional feature to catch up with what's going on out there. Let's have a rummage and see who's up and who's down: Mayor Ken fights back in a hefty spat with Evening Standard over a hatchet-job on his race advisor. Standard's tactics are questionable, but the story went......

Four weeks till Christmas! Argh. Funds are all focused on present buying and getting through the party season but we still want to go out and about because the heating isn't working properly at home. We can't afford to go and see Gandalf drop his trousers in King Lear but, thankfully, there's lots of cheap and interesting stuff about as usual. Monday: Start the week with an event truly in the spirit of London......

Hitler notwithstanding, testicles customarily gather in pairs. Yet London only has one - the glass bollock near Tower Bridge known as City Hall. The less said about its daily ejaculations, the better. This gonadic deficiency will soon be redressed, thanks to a new scheme from Hamiltons Architects and Development Securities. They’ve received planning permission for this bulbous office block in Hammersmith. The ten-storey scheme will squat next to the Hammersmith and City station, and......

The fifth in our series of interviews with potential candidates for next year's Mayoral election. Previously: Victoria Borwick (Tory), Andrew Boff (Tory) and Warwick Lightfoot (Tory), Sian Berry (Green). Today: Liberal Democrat candidate Fiyaz Mughal. He's competing with fellow LDs Brian Paddick and Chamali Fernando to represent his party in next year's elections. Would you vote for him? Read his ideas below. Where do you live in London and what do you like best......

This chesty old hoare-nut comes round time and again. What's the most emblematic edifice in the capital? To end all debate, Londonist went in for a more scientific approach than petty arguing on a forum. We visited all the London web sites we could think of. In each case, we noted down which structures the site features in its logo or banner. The one chosen by the most websites wins. So was it Tower......

Now I'm the king of the swingers Oh, the jungle VIP I've reached the top and had to stop And that's what botherin' me I wanna be a man, mancub And stroll right into town And be just like the other men I'm tired of monkeyin' around! Theatre producers The Steam Industry may not have designed their live stage version of Disney's The Jungle Book to turn in to a singalong event but once......

The third of our interviews with the Tory candidates for London Mayor. Previously, Victoria Borwick and Andrew Boff. Warwick Lightfoot has, no doubt, spent a lifetime tolerating jibes about his Tolkeinesque name. He's also acquired an outstanding CV that includes stints as Mayor of Kensington and Chelsea, Special Advisor to the Chancellor and 20 years experience as a councillor. Most impressively of all, he's the first Tory candidate to admit to vomiting on the......

You could be forgiven for not giving a fig about how the candidates for the London mayoral elections in 2008 are shaping up. Londonist, however, does. On the left, the Greens were first off the block in March with the selection of anti-4x4 campaigner Sian Berry, followed by Respect (remember them?) in April with Lindsey German, who stood last time on behalf of Team Galloway. For the far right, the British National Party have selected......

Ah, that's what we like to see. Sensible policies for a happier London. Over at ConservativeHome, which in this period of the Tory selection for their London mayoral candidate is pretty much the place to keep up with proceedings, Hammersmith and Fulham councillor Harry Phibbs sets out a five-point plan he'd like to see Boris, sorry the successful Tory candidate (whoever that might be), implement if elected Mayor: • A big reduction in the Mayor's......

Well, ish. It's been announced that drivers of three thousand cabs now have the choice to use a new biofuel fuel mix. Each driver that opts for it will get their mitts on a nice green sticker to proudly stick to their windscreen. A handful of cabs parked next to City Hall this morning for a photo opportunity to celebrate. Or it might have been to chauffeur certain London Assembly Members around, we're not......

A new campaign has launched today and good luck to the plucky folk literally camping outside City Hall. The latest housing campaign by London Citizens, the group responsible for the Living Wage Campaign, is a call for housing co-operatives to be built on land held in common ownership. 50 tents and hundreds of campaigners from the diverse range of community groups, faith groups and local resident groups involved are currently occupying Potters Field next......

With the news that Boris Johnson is polling 6% ahead of Ken Livingstone among current voting intentions in the capital, were he to be selected, you might think that his rivals for the Tory nomination would just quietly throw in the towel and get behind the man. Not Andrew Boff, who, as we noted previously is not one to take a hint from the electorate, and has taken some time to give a lengthy......

If you're anything like Londonist, you're saving up to go on holiday somewhere sunny (well let's face it, it's not going to happen here any time soon). So, like us, you'll be watching the pennies this week. This means we can't go and see David Suchet at Theatre Royal Haymarket, or go and watch the new Simpsons Movie. We're very annoyed about this, so we've found some exciting free stuff to do instead: Monday:......

From next week London will be hosting India Now, a three-month season of events exploring London’s relationship with India and India's culture. It all kicks off with a hefty PR stunt on the morning of 17 July, when a replica of the Taj Mahal will sail down the Thames. Yes, really. It will start from Millbank and head down-stream - pausing for photo opps beside Parliament, the London Eye and Tate Modern. Somewhat like......