Ken Livingstone: Difference between revisions
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|''"A person who calls for Gordon Brown to be sacked and whose economic politics do not stand up has a total disregard for sensible, mature politics. That person would be a disaster for Labour and a disaster for London." | |||
::Tony Blair, on Ken Livingstone, at a party meeting, 3rd December 1999<ref>''Findarticles.com'': '[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19991204/ai_n14275182 Blair says Livingstone is backed by Trotskyists]'. 4th December 1999.</ref> | |||
''"I believe passionately - I may be wrong, but this is my genuine belief - that he would be a disaster for London... But at least, in a sense, he's not my responsibility any more."'' | |||
::Tony Blair, on Ken Livingstone, ''The World Today'' radio programme, Australia, 7th March 2000<ref>''The World Today'': '[http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/stories/s108341.htm Red Kenny bucks Blair in London race]'. 7th March 2000.</ref> | |||
''"My prediction that he would be a disaster has turned out to be wrong and I think when that happens in politics you should just be open about it... If the facts change you should be big enough in politics to say your mind changes."'' | |||
::Tony Blair, BBC London, 6th January 2004<ref>''BBC News'': '[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3370803.stm Livingstone back in from the cold]'. 6th January 2004.</ref> | |||
''"Why does he not split the job of mayor of London? The former Health Secretary [Frank Dobson] can run as his 'day-mayor' and the hon. Member for Brent, East [Ken Livingstone] can run as his 'night-mayor'."'' | |||
::Conservative leader William Hague, during a House of Commons debate, 8th October 1999<ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19991008/ai_n14261462 Blair is a liar and hypocrite, says Hague'] 17th November 1999</ref> | |||
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====Opposition to Ken Livingstone for Mayor of London==== | |||
Labour had pledged to reverse Margaret Thatcher's 1986 abolition of the Greater London Council (GLC) - the local government authority for London that was, at that time, held by the Labour Party. In 1999 the government created a new [[Greater London Authority]], which for the first time in the UK established a key role for a directly elected Mayor.<ref> [http://www.london.gov.uk/about.jsp London.gov.uk - About].</ref> To Blair's consternation, the first election in 2000 produced a win not for the official Labour candidate, but for 'Red' [[Ken Livingstone]], a rebellious left-wing Labour MP and former GLC leader who had pursued high profile policies that directly countered those of Thatcher's government.<ref>''BBC News:'' '[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk_politics/2000/london_mayor/736460.stm Ken Livingstone: Rebel mayor']. One of Livingstone's actions was to mount a giant, updated counter of London's rising unemployment figures on the roof of County Hall, opposite The Houses of Parliament.</ref> Livingstone had been nominated as Labour candidate for Mayor by local London Labour parties, but was unsympathetic to "New Labour" and regarded by Blair as a potential electoral liability for the party nationally.<ref>''BBC News:'' '[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/528259.stm Blair in new attack on Livingstone]'. 19th November 1999</ref> Blair repeatedly predicted that Livingstone would be a "disaster" for London and unfavourably recalled Labour's more left-wing years (''see quotations, right''). Accordingly an [[electoral college]] weighted in favour of MPs over ordinary members rejected Livingstone's nomination; Livingstone refused to accept this and declared that he would stand as an independent candidate against the official Labour candidate, the Blair loyalist [[Frank Dobson]]. Livingstone was expelled from the Labour party, but won the election. As Mayor he proved successful and popular, and was re-elected in 2004 - standing as the official Labour candidate, having been re-admitted to the party shortly before.<ref> The ''Independent:'' '[http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/yasmin_alibhai_brown/article82553.ece Blair and Livingstone's marriage of convenience]' 15th December 2003.</ref> | |||
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Revision as of 02:36, 13 September 2010
