Notionally a complete re-run of the 2008 election (literally: Boris Johnson vs. Ken Livingstone 'vs.' Brian Paddick again!), we've got just six months left to go until the London mayorals in May. Anyway, this election will be interesting as Boris has genuinely done fuck all for London. That isn't even me being partisan - he hasn't got a single widespread achievement to his name from four years in office (anyone who cites 'Boris Bikes' will get it in the kidneys as Ken was the one behind the scheme...), and aside from providing the Living Wage of £7.45 to anyone working for the GLA and having an illegal immigrant amnesty - which I can applaud - he's just been an embarrassing rent-a-quote for the worst elements of the Tory Party over the last three years: claiming in the midst of the financial crisis that the banking sector needed less regulation, screaming at every opportunity for the abolition of the 50p tax rate and predicting it would lead to the City upping sticks and leaving the country (amusingly enough numbers of professionals leaving the city decreased by 8% after the 50p tax rate was brought in), and generally being a bit of a fool as always. Not only that, he's actively made things worse for most Londoners - ramming bus fares up by 20% to fund the scrapping of the western extension of the Congestion Charge (i.e. Kensington and Chelsea - those who could notionally afford it most!), taking £27m out of the cycle lanes funding scheme in 2009, getting rid of the £25 Congestion Charge for SUVs and postponing the Low Emissions Zones. Essentially, Boris has been a disaster - and that's before you even begin to compare him with Ken, who had a veritable LIST of achievements! However, despite all this, Boris is still squeaking ahead in the few polls that have been commissioned thanks to the bloody charisma factor, but hopefully that'll get turned around in the next few months - Ken's been written off by pretty much everyone, but at least the way he's running the campaign so far shows he's targeting the outer boroughs as he needs to if he wants to win - take his latest ad, which has been heralded as Labour's most effective in years by a fair few sources (including a fair few Tories!). <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FCOWZx7JlGA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> So, quite wisely (given it's one of the areas where he has a brilliant reputation) Ken's focusing on transport for the next election, with a Fair Fares scheme to reduce the spiralling costs of bus and tube fares in London. Christ knows what Boris will drive for, but I think as ever we can expect him driving forward as a maverick - which certainly seems to be his tactic from how he's differentiated himself constantly from and been the thorn in the side of Cameron et al over the last year and a half. Certainly you can expect support for Boris to be hugely up compared with generic Conservative support in the capital in May next year. Still, despite all this (and Ken being written off), I think it'll be a lot closer than most predict. Bearing in mind that Ken only just lost the election in 2008 by 100,000 votes despite having EVERYTHING possible going against him (Having been the mayor for eight years and people feeling they needed someone new - which could admittedly still work against him - Labour at their absolute poll doldrums mid-financial crisis and after the scrapping of the 10p tax rate, Boris having Teflon-like charisma against any criticism thrown at him, the Evening Standard going into full attack dog mode against Ken and for Boris...), I still reckon he could launch a shock. Anyway, that all aside this is looking to be an interesting contest. The BNP have selected a Uruguayan immigrant who allegedly fought for/supported Argentina in the Falklands War (), Paddick's going to face the interesting prospect of actually having to make his own campaign rather than just saying enough to get the old default Lib Dem protest votes, UKIP are in the middle of a poll renaissance (well, they're up a couple of points ) due to the Eurozone crisis and could possibly overtake the Lib Dems if everything goes right for them, and the Greens could do a lot better as a result of getting the old Lib Dem votes. In short we've got a treat of a campaign coming up despite it being in theory the most boring election we've had in a while! So, where do you stand at the moment? *cue onslaught of Ken votes with Kratz going for Boris*
It is bizarre that Boris is ahead in the polls seeing as the Tories really DID NOT DO WELL AT ALL in London at the last election It's either the LOLZ BORIS WOT A LEGERND factor (copyright C. Brooker) or everyone just hates my beloved NEWTMAN KEN Anyway I won't VOTE as I don't live in London so who gives a FUCK what I think about it
The thought that Boris might be ahead in the polls fills me with FURY. This election to me is a complete NO BRAINER. OF COURSE Ken should win. He shouldn't just WIN he should WALK IT.
Someone I know in LGBT Labour's best friend had an encounter with him in a gym bathroom, before going out and announcing to all that evening that he'd been sucked off by the second choice of 650,000 Londoners that day (I should probably add that this is all ALLEGED lest the Lib Dems are still able to afford legal help.)
I got chatted up by Brian in a changing room once (with the CRINGE line "you win the prize for the prettiest boy in the gym today" ) and he gave me his phone number. He has a MASSIVE cock and a great body for a man his age, but there is something very sleazy about him. For the election, there can only be ONE: [video=youtube;_Opl8t-Wahc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Opl8t-Wahc[/video] WHO'S THE FUNKY SEX MACHINE?!!
BUMP. Thanks to Ken being a hypocritical cunt over his taxes, saying stupid things about Jews, and coming up with fare plans the majority of Londoners don't think he can deliver on, he's probably THROWN AWAY a perfectly winnable election :grr: Pretty much every poll has Boris ahead by 6% in the second round, and going into the last two weeks it's going to take a fair whack to overturn that.
I really have no idea who to vote for this time around. I will watch the television debate on Sunday. I have liked Ken in the past. I think he is passionate about London but some of the things he has said/done means I will find it hard to vote for him.
Well his supposed attitude towards Jews, and then all the stuff about his links with fundamentalists, I am just not sure what to believe and what to not I didn't like his use of 'riddled' when talking about gays in the conservatives either. I know and accept he is outspoken and that is sometimes his charm but he is just edging too much on the side of DODGY to me at the moment. Those are all little things to base an opinion, I know very little about what they are proposing this time around. I look forward to the debate on Sunday. As long as it doesn't clash with TOWIE.
One of the supposed "offensive to Jews" things that he did was to call an Evening Standard scum journalist at the last mayoral election a "Nazi" due to: 1. it's owned by the Mail, a paper that supported Moseley back in the day 2. the dirty campaign the Standard ran against him at the last election that even KRATZ admitted was awful when he didn't know the journalist in question was Jewish. The backlash was right wing spin. The supposed homophobia that is being put forward by right wingers is something I find utterly ridiculous. Ken supported gay rights at a time when few other MPs were. Even Tatchell defends the "riddled with gays" comment: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/02/09/comment-ken-livingstone-is-not-homophobic/
MORE needs to be done to inform Londoners about what Ken did in his time as mayor and why Boris Johnson is a MASSIVE CUNT. If it weren't for Ken, there'd be no DLR station to take me into work in the morning and he brought the Olympics to Stratford in order to try to gentrify a deprived area of London.
Ken is a LEGEND, in part because he speaks up his mind and doesn't give you sweetened politician bullshit. I think the other thing that upset the Jewish Chronicle lobby is his assertion that "Capitalism has killed more people than the Nazis" which is not only TRUE but also NOT a fucking dismissal of the Holocaust. The thing with Ken is he usually champions unpopular but WORTHY causes - he was there for the gays in the 80s when it was NOT a popular time to be pro-homosexual (these days even the Tories pretend to love the gays). Likewise, he is supporting Muslim integration and working class multiculturalism nowadays, when it's certainly not a popular policy but it NEEDS to be done.
I think the main thing that pissed off the Jewish Chronicle lobby (and in particular Alan Sugar, who's come out against Ken winning) was Ken saying that there wasn't much point bothering with Jews as they 'richer people don't vote Labour', which was a bit FUCKING STUPID given Stamford Hill (near Stoke Newington, DOMINATED by Orthodox Jews) is one of the poorest areas in London, and it's a bit of a callback to the old 'JEWS ARE RICH' chestnut. I don't know WHO the hell's operating his campaign but they're doing a shoddy job given they didn't trot him out to clarify his remarks and apologise for such a ridiculous generalisation after loads of really prominent Jewish journalists did pieces saying why they felt like they couldn't vote for Ken anymore after that.
To be honest, Ken will lose the election not because of rich people not voting for him, but because of poor people voting for Boris which is so utterly misguided it breaks my heart. Every time I see one of those massive 'EX-COPPER, 30 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE" Brian Paddick posters I can't help thinking he's having a laugh. He's more of a phoney than Boris.
Paddick has no real interest in politics, it's all a massive ego trip. The more I find out about him the more he disgusts me. He's the kind of bored to death, inner-city rich gay (on a 60K yearly state-funded pension no less!) who goes around fucking the YOUNG PROLETARIAT he then pretends to be policing. I don't mind if he smokes weed or picks up boys in the pool in Soho, just be honest about it or don't play the hypocritical game of politics.
In fairness it's not as if he's coming out and taking a hard line on marijuana or any of those issues. If he was doing that I could see your point - as it is, I don't really see why it has to be the case that you have to own up to such things to go into politics?
To me a mayoral election is much more about the individual than party politics, this is why I like Ken, because you can't deny he understands London, feels strongly about it and doesn't give a crap if this goes for or against his party politics, hence why he's had a troubled relationship with Labour and why he won the first time around as an independent. Paddick wouldn't last one day in the House of Commons as a Lib Dem. I met him in 2010, a few months before he got married. Suffice to say he was a total sex sleazeball although hypocritically enough he went to court to DEFEND his honour against the lies his previous boyfriend had allegedly said about him - that he fucked around and did drugs... which is TRUE. I would respect him much more if he didn't pretend he is something he is not, I can't stand phonies. Also, I love the fact that he downplays his homosexuality (because of the SKELETONS in the closet that it could bring out) but then uses it when it's convenient ("I WAS BULLIED IN SCHOOL FOR BEING GAY"... give me a fucking break, you were married to a woman in the 80s). When I asked him what his plans were back in 2010 he said he was in the middle of a mid-life crisis and was looking forward to moving to New York and write a book. He also said his political days were "over".. make of that what you will, but here he is once again playing this little pantomime. Saying that, of course he would be a better alternative than Boris (a tub of lard would be better than Boris). But honestly, if people don't like Ken (and I can see why some may find him too confrontational), they should be voting for Jenny Jones. A mayoral combo of Ken + Jenny to keep him in check would be fantastic.
I have a question, how would I find out more information about the London Assembly Members up for election in my constituency, and the London Wide Assembly Members as well, or am I just supposed to vote based on the political party I support? As for who I'm voting for Mayor, Ken is my first choice and Jenny Jones is my second. I think I might lose the little faith I have left in humanity if Boris is re-elected.
I've mentioned it before in the thread! I met him once in the swimming pool while sunbathing , we chatted a fair bit, he hinted that I went back to his flat, we swapped phone numbers and then a couple of days later he texted asking to send him naked pictures. That's the extent of it, I didn't fuck him although he had a nice body and was very well endowed but there was something really off-putting about his personality, your average combination of sleazy and smug that many rich middle-age London gays have.
I get Simon Amstell and you get Paddick?! Well I am voting for KEN and that is all Halli has to say on the MATTER!
No, but I really DREAD to think. I've seen him in stand up too. I've got a mate who HAS actually slept with him. It was only last year. So let me know the ROUTINE and I can take the piss out him <3
From 5.50 here: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0nTIEOlyRXk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
