Londoners- would you keep Boris or give Ken another go?

[mrsruffallo]

I have warmed to Boris and cooled towards Ken personally.

[corlan]

I wonder if Boris' wife thinks he's trustworthy

[doubleshotespresso]

It seems from this thread that Boris will win. Not overly happay at that-but I'd be happier to have him again than Ken any day of the week....

[ButHeNeverDid]

I think that the tax revelations will influence many people to move away from Ken.

In the current climate a supposed left-winger who uses a company to reduce his tax liability will not go down well with the majority of the electorate.

[LydiaWickham]

Actually, Ken being the Labour mayor candidate is rather like the Labour party hanging on and going into the last election with Gordon Brown as leader, even though it was quite clear a lot of people were openly saying they were voting LibDem as they didn't want Brown as PM. As a party they are spectacularly useless of getting rid of people who are known to be vote losers once they are in a position/certain level in the party.

It seems it's just the Labour party who have this miss guided loyality problem, if the Tories thought for one minute that Boris was unpopular, they'd have started plotting to get someone else. If he loses this election there is not a hope in hell of him being the Tory candidate next time round, but Labour will keep putting Ken forward as long as he wants too, after his defeat last time round, someone should have taken him to one side, told him London had rejected him, told him that was it, and focussed the party on finding new people, then spending the last few years helping them raise their profile so that they'd have a good chance now.

perhaps if Ken loses a second time to Boris, Labour will wake up to the fact London doesn't want him and start thinking about how they could offer London what they want. Or maybe the Tories will have London until Ken retires...

[doubleshotespresso]

The only time I remember Ken being popular was on Spitting Image!

[MortaIWombat]

I don't think the Labour party will ever work that way though, Lydia - it seems to be every man out to get what he can for himself, most of the time.

[ophelia275]

Boris! Ken is a racist, homophobic, tax evading hyporcrite! Can't stand the man.

[AmberLeaf]

You're calling Ken racist and yet back Boris??!!

How odd

[DilysPrice]

Ken is not homophobic, he's got very very solid form for promoting gay rights going back decades.

What he is, is insufficiently commited to confronting homophobia in political allies, which I grant you is a big strike against him, but it's not the same as being homophobic himself.

And he could be criticised for anti-semitism rather than broader racism (though of course anti-semitism is a form of racism).

[ariadneoliver]

Ken's supporters deserting him?

[ophelia275]

"Ken is not homophobic, he's got very very solid form for promoting gay rights going back decades." - So why does he welcome with open arms Jihadi preachers who advocate throwing gays off buildings (Yusuf al Qaradawi)? If you support someone who advocates the murder of others based on their sexuality, then, in some respects, you are supporting their ideology too.

[DilysPrice]

Hanging around with people who advocate homophobic acts is very wrong, and if you think that's a good enough reason not to vote for him then I won't try and talk you out of it, but it is not the same as being a homophobe yourself.

But why Boris? Why not (eg) Brian?

[ButHeNeverDid]

Because if you don't want Ken in office you have to vote for someone who will win. Not one of the "others".

[AmberLeaf]

Because if you don't want Ken in office you have to vote for someone who will win. Not one of the "others

That kind of foolishness is what got the fucking tories in in may 2010.

[ButHeNeverDid]

Even Jonathan Freedland has seen sense now

www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/23/backed-ken-livingstone-mayor-before

[ButHeNeverDid]

Amber, labour should have backed a better candidate. Oona King would have been a better candidate.

[AmberLeaf]

I would vote for next doors dog if they stood as labours candidate before I would vote for Boris tory Johnson.

[longfingernails]

Voting blindly for one party is idiotic in the extreme. I have voted Tory, UKIP, Lib Dem and even Labour on one rather misguided occasion - but even today, in a hypothetical election between (say) Gisela Stuart and Ken Clarke, I am pretty sure I wouldn't vote for Ken.

[DilysPrice]

You do not have to vote for Ken or Boris, or not first on the list anyway. This is an STV election, you can vote Independent, then Green, then Brian then Monster Raving Looney and then, last on the list whichever of Ken or Boris you hate least.

[longfingernails]

DilysPrice I think you only get one "transfer" vote - that is, the election is a Supplementary Vote one, not Single Transferable Vote.

[DilysPrice]

Oh so it is lfn, sorry. I'm pretty sure that's a change isn't it?
My point still stands though, this is not an election where a vote for the Greens is a wasted vote.

[longfingernails]

No, I think it has always been SV - and at the very least, 2008 was SV.

[chipstick10]

I didnt like the way Ken said the tory party was "riddled" with gays, as if it was a disease. I think hes homophobic

[ElenMumsnetBloggers]

@justonemorethread

http://www.siobhanformayor.com/index.html
Apparently they are not the only options? Who knew!

Hi there,

We've invited the London Mayoral candidates to do a guest blog post and set out their strategy for a better London. Have a read of the first guest blog by Green candidate Jenny Jones and join the conversation: what do you want to see from the next London Mayor?