How envious our former Mayor must be when it comes to Venezuelan politics and the power that his erstwhile chum and budding autocrat Hugo Chavez wields. Pesky media criticising your government and daring to oppose you? Close them down. Irritating elections every four years? Heck, just eliminate your term limit. ¿Es facil, no? Ken's love affair with the Bolivarian Revolution reached its zenith when he struck a deal that saw impoverished developing world Venezuela......

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......

In news guaranteed only to please the pen of Andrew Gilligan more than his legion of loyal supporters, Ken Livingstone announced his plan to contest the 2012 Mayoral election in Ruislip last night. Speaking to an audience of Indian-origin Labour supporters in west London over his concern at the governance of race relations in the capital, the 63 year-old ex-mayor revealed his ambition: I actually support the government policy that we should work longer......

Boris may not have been able to save our Post Offices, but he has succeeded in reversing a decision to close dozens of Underground ticket offices. The move, a Livingstone money-scrimping initiative, was opposed by passenger groups amid concerns that safety would be compromised by staffless stations, and Johnson's decision to keep them open was greeted as [cliche alert] a "victory for common sense". As relations between the City Hall incumbent and his predecessor......

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......

It was just last week that Londonist speculated our new mayor might not be so enthused about the skyscrapers redrawing London's skyline as his predecessor was. Now we have confirmation from the blond-barnetted one himself: he is to demand tougher rules on high rise buildings. Johnson outlined his views on skyscraper requirements thus: "They should be buildings of quality, they should be buildings of distinction... I do think we should be protecting strategic views......

That's the partisan message from Londonist today as Londoners go to the polling stations to choose their next mayor and members of the London Assembly. As we write we are reliably informed that a new YouGov poll for today's Evening Standard will show Boris Johnson heading for victory over Ken Livingstone by six percent of the vote after electors' second preferences are taken into account. But any news-stand message on our streets later today......

Londoners are all hot and bothered over the exact voting procedure they will be faced with in the mayoral election, according to the Evening Standard. The use of the second preference system appears to be causing some puzzlement, with 30% of those surveyed by the paper admitting they were unaware of its employment in tomorrow’s vote, and just 39% claiming they were fully clear about the process. It seems that amidst all the insults......

So what are the weary vote-chasers' final offers? Ken Livingstone has been in Vauxhall launching a poster campaign advising Londoners to imagine Boris Johnson in charge of a £39 billion public transport improvement programme. It's punchline? "Suddenly, he's no joke." Then he launched his manifesto for women and ignored another YouGov poll while his office responded tartly to a hit and run attack by TravelWatch chairman Brian Cooke. Apparently, Brian wasn't keen on the Freedom......

One of the few things we can be sure of about the mayoral race is that Boris and Ken in particular are knackered. But with just three full campaigning days remaining they must now run harder than ever. If the opinion polls are telling us anything, it is that neither can be certain which of them will win and that every single vote–first or second preference–is precious to them. Livingstone’s strategy between now and......

Remember that circus surrounding the Olympic Torch parade last month? With the sinister, shell-suited Chinese security team, met officers barging protesters out the path of the torch and ex-Blue Peter presenters looking like rabbits caught in headlights? Well, a Metropolitan police authority report has revealed that said security presence cost a whopping £750,000. And while it’s not Londonist’s style to bluster about taxpayer’s money and wotnot, according to Lib Dem mayoral candidate Brian Paddick,......

Does anyone know who’s winning? On Monday, according to YouGov, it was Boris Johnson by a massive 13 points. But on Wednesday, according to Ipsos-MORI, it was Ken Livingstone by one, prompting The London Paper to dub him 'Comeback Ken'. So, is Ken coming back or is he a goner? Londonist is as baffled as everyone else but maybe the past week contained some clues about which way the tide is going. On Tuesday,......

It may be pissing off our lorry drivers, but as well as improving air quality and reducing carbon emissions, Ken’s Low Emission Zone is also stoking the capital’s coffers. With nearly 1 in 20 vehicles affected by the emission standards initiative falling foul of the legal limits, cash tills rang to the tune of £500,000 this month from fines dished out. Anyone imagining TfL execs bathing in ball pools of cash, or luxuriating in......

If you’re paying attention to the mayoral race you probably already know a little about where the candidates stand on crime and bendy buses. But what candidate will be best for your bank account? To help you answer that question, we’ve put together a quick economic summary of the big-party candidates: Ken Livingstone We already have a pretty good idea of what the incumbent will do in this area — more of the same.......

'Martyrdom videos' made by accused jet bombers Ken's clandestine kids cause controversy For those keeping up with the Tube strike ping-pong rally: it's off again Holland Park statue goes up in flames - but is that pic from before or after the blaze? A home in your shell, like: 'Raw space' demand spreads to London Image of An Ordinary Life (isn't that what we all want, really?) courtesy of unusualimage via the Londonist flickr......

There was so much crazy action in the mayoral campaign last week that Londonist was left gasping to keep up. The most entertaining bit was when Boris Johnson launched his environment manifesto with a photo opportunity on Hampstead Heath. BBC London viewers and others were treated to the splendid sight of The Blond hacking his way through a patch of north London undergrowth – perhaps specially provided for the occasion, who knows? – wearing......

Nobody likes traffic, do they? Especially not Madonna, who is apparently taking as a personal affront to musicians trying to make their gigs in the congestion zone. In an interview with Q magazine, the Britified American said, "I would make it so that young musicians, aspiring musicians wouldn't have to pay the congestion charge or pay taxes." What a dream... no C-charge for carrying a guitar. And no taxes, too? Sign us up for piano......

Londonist was at the Royal Festival Hall on Tuesday for the formal launch of Ken Livingstone’s mayoral election campaign. Setting aside the usual cynicism about politicians and the worrying stuff in those Evening Standard exposes, it was a stirring occasion. Doreen Lawrence introduced the mayor, paying tribute to his achievements including his contribution to putting the capital at ease with its own cosmopolitanism. He thanked her for her role in improving the attitude of......

Brown on Livingstone: Ken is an “inspirational figure” and a “crusading mayor”. Thank you, we’ll have none of your moral turpitude here: US immigration officials deny entry to London dandy Sebastian Horsley. Gap-owned Banana Republic opens its first UK store on Regent Street today amid allegations that the chain exploits workers in India. City homeless projects to receive £19 million in government funding. Doggy arson: Clueless canine burns down Luddesdown kennel. Fortunately, the hapless......

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 bendy bus comes in for regular bashings, and the articulated eyesore is one of the hot topics in the Mayoral election, with Boris Johnson threatening to scrap it altogether in favour of a remixed Routemaster. Now a new report comes along that suggests the bendy's popularity with fare-dodgers is bigger than ever. According to a Liberal Democrat study, fare evasion has almost doubled from 2.2% in 2003 to 3.9% last year. This coincides......

Some stories are true slow burners. We've been pondering the fate of one of London's grubbiest, tattiest yet best loved live music and club night venues since mid 2006. However, the Astoria has soldiered on, pepped up by 35,000 supporters signing a "Save the Astoria" petition. Whilst its time on death row has been lengthy, the execution will be going ahead. Not even Ken Livingstone, friend of live music venues, can stay it. It's......

2012 "Friend-ship" scheme shelved before it sets sail. Is the sun setting on the Square Mile? Grape of wrath: Man slips on squashed fruit and sues M&S for "loss of confidence". We think he's got more chance of turning a profit by sending the video in to You've Been Framed. Stingy NHS won't cough up money for grandmother's sight-saving operation. Costs for parking a plane at Heathrow set to rise. Naturally, passengers will be......

The clearest thing to emerge from the mayoral race this week is that no one can agree about buses. The arguments began last Wednesday when Boris Johnson told Vanessa Feltz that the '21st Century' Routemasters he wants to replace bendy buses with would all have conductors and that these would cost 'eight million quid'. Ken Livingstone went on the show next day to say Boris’s figures were fine except he’d left a nought off......

There's a Spitfire in Trafalgar Square today. Not a Banksy Spitfire, amusingly positioned so it looks like it is crashed into the steps leading from the National Gallery. It's not propped up between the lions by a protest group and it's not there as a misguided celebration of Prince Harry's safe return to England. It's there to launch a campaign to put a statue of Sir Keith Park on the fourth plinth and do......

All I do each night is pray...hoping that I'll be electable again some day. The highlight of the mayoral election week came at the Evening Standard’s Influentials Debate at the RSA on Monday, when Ken Livingstone told LBC breakfast host Nick Ferrari why he doesn’t drive. He revealed that he’d tried cars when a young man because he’d thought it would help him to get girls, but in the end had decided to “concentrate on......

Though Boris Johnson's campaign team may have trouble waking up in the morning, the man himself is not lying down when it comes to outflanking Ken on public transport. His latest initiative is for a network of express buses in south London. The nattily named "London Orb" would offer an alternative to overcrowded rail services, running express bus services between key locations and interchanges that are tough to traverse by train. BoJo apparently dreamt......

Word reaches Londonist that Boris Johnson's mayoral campaign is facing a foe more taxing than Ken Livingstone could ever hope to be: tardiness. A number of Bozzaphiles were up bright and early Thursday morning at an undisclosed location, ready to leaflet the good burghers of London. However, the "operation" was called off at the last moment when the Henley member's representative canceled. The reason? He was still in bed. The eager leafleters were left......

Ken Livingstone's on a tap water crusade. Him and Thames Water have launched a campaign to encourage Londoners to be proud to ask for tap water, however many grannies it's been through. Not only are they extolling the quality of the water and the clear financial benefits, they're trying to make it sexy by running a competition to design a carafe worthy of holding our precious Eau de Londres. Asking for tap water in......