Looking Back at London’s Mayors: Ken Livingstone

For good or bad, everyone remembers their first, right?

Ken Livingstone was London’s, and his eight years as Mayor made a massive mark on the capital. His policies and implementations continue to this day, forming the foundations for the beloved city we see today. Love him or hate him, Ken was one of a kind.

Livingstone began Mayoral life betrayed. His own party and PM Tony Blair didn’t like him so did their best to thwart him, even changing the vote system in their favour. Obviously their gambit was unsuccessful: he ran independently instead, choosing London over Labour.

Controversies

Being too Bolshy

Ken is famed for not knowing the value of silence. On plenty of occasions his mouth (rightly) got the rest of him in hot water. Colourful language and cutting clapbacks became Livingstone hallmarks, but it once escalated further.

A fight between him and a Standard reporter ended with the latter falling off a wall; the reporter said Ken pushed him. None of this was substantiated, but it was a black mark on Ken’s blotted book and he made a lifelong enemy of the paper.

The Evening Standard and Anti-Semitism

No love was lost between Livingstone and London’s free evening paper. Indeed, it’s said that the Evening Standard’s backing of Boris Johnson is what lost Ken the Mayoral seat.

Allegedly harming their reporter sealed the deal, but things didn’t improve when Ken was cornered coming out a party by a ES reporter and her likened the guy to a Nazi. Not beyond saving in itself, but the reporter was actually Jewish. Even worse for Ken, journalists’ pesky habit of having dictaphones proved fatal. The whole conversation was recorded, made public and Ken was suspended.

Ken proceeded to bugger up by telling two Iraqi-Jewish Olympics developers they could ‘go back to Iran’. This classy remark became the cherry on top of his non-kosher cake.

Chavez’s Oil

Livingstone controversially invited Venezuelan President Chavez to London. Later in the year, he returned the visit but ended up staying in Cuba rather than Venezuela. The trip cost the taxpayers £29000.

However, the deal that came out of the visit resulted in £16m worth of free oil given to TfL annually, allowing the 250000 Londoners on benefits to have half price bus fares. Venezuela definitely got the raw deal here – all this was in exchange for our ‘transport expertise’. Ouch.

Legacy

Congestion Charge

Ken’s first and feistiest plan was the congestion charge, which began as a bone of contention and remains one. Car owners obviously hated it – those living in London or just outside were punished for doing so. Despite their dissent, the CC had benefits. Traffic was reduced, with congestion dropping by 20% in 2007. The profits go to improving public transport, making a huge number of improvements, upgrades and new projects possible.

Not all of these improvements were wise, though. Replacing ‘dangerous’ Routemasters with godawful bendy buses was dire. Havoc and accidents ensued until Boris blessedly undid the mess, returning the Routemaster to its adoring public.

Regardless, Ken was named ‘Politician of the Year’ for introducing the CC. You also have to support his anger at foreign embassies not paying their charge. The US embassy refused to pay the £1.5m owed, and Ken deemed their diplomat a ‘chiselling little crook’. He then proceeded to double the congestion charge in Kensington and Chelsea.

Oyster card

I remember the Oyster card being announced and the absolute revulsion at the idea. It was a true war against change, and by association, modernity. How laughable that all seems now! Sure the Oyster has had its downs – the name for one, not to mention the hell that broke loose as millions made their first top-up attempt. But the ups have far outweighed these, and the loss paper tickets has not been mourned. Now that contactless bank cards have followed suit, the name suddenly makes sense – the travel world truly is our oyster.

People Power

Livingstone wanted a London for the people. He revived the anti-racism music festival Rise (later killed off by Boris) and brought in an annual Saint Patrick’s Day celebration (deemed ‘lefty crap’ by Boris). He transformed Trafalgar Square with varying success: pedestrianising the north created a bigger space for art and performance, but the attempt to remove the pigeons failed.

An LGBT supporter, Ken set up the first same-sex couple register in Britain. It was a huge win for LGBT rights and paved the way towards the Civil Partnership Act a few years later.

Livingstone was pro-multiculturalism and anti-war. In the wake of the ‘War on Terror’, he met with various Islamist groups and scholars to build a closer community with Muslims and hopefully halt radicalisation. He is also a vocal supporter of Palestine.

Ken’s comment on Bush just before his state visit, deeming him ‘the greatest threat to life on this planet’, is remarkably topical. I can’t imagine Sadiq stating such a strong, immovable stance on Trump – arguably a greater evil.

7/7

Livingstone’s reign included the attacks of 7/7. In Singapore for the Olympics announcement at the time, he flew immediately home. He was lauded for blaming western foreign policy for the attacks, but he feared rising Islamophobia. To counteract, he began a campaign with rallies and banners for a multi-cultural, inter-community capital. His ‘7 M1LLON LONDONERS’ and ‘WE ARE LONDONERS’ slogans become more apt each day.

However, these efforts didn’t bring everyone together. Prior remarks and meeting with Islamist groups with anti-semitic history lost him the support of London’s Jewish Community.

Crossrail

When projects take so long to start, its easy to forget who was behind it in the first place. Crossrail is just one of the instances of Boris getting (and sometimes taking) credit for Ken’s work – the bikes and Olympics being others. Crossrail got the green light in 2007, but Ken lost leadership a decade before completion.

This wasn’t the only construction project that Ken introduced. He also believed skyscrapers were vital to meet the need for office space in the city. His building legacy includes The Gherkin and The Shard, both approved during his time as MoL.

2012 Olympics

It’s not surprising that a capital city Mayor would support hosting the Olympics, but Ken managed to go one further. He used the Olympics to London’s advantage by demanding the games should take place in the East. This meant regeneration and growth in an overlooked area that needed it most, bringing the East End back to the public eye.

 

If you enjoyed our look at Ken, watch out for next week’s look at Boris!

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