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Editor takes time out to join race for mayor
Amar Singh, Media Correspondent20.02.08
A magazine editor has become the twelfth person to enter the London mayoral race.
Michael Hodges, Time Out magazine's editor-at-large, says he was so unimpressed with the calibre of candidates in the up-coming election that he decided to put himself forward as potential successor to Ken Livingstone.
He told the Standard: "I'm very serious about this. I felt that the votes of young Londoners were being taken for granted and I would love to shake up a system that is letting Londoners down.
"Under Ken Livingstone we have seen pubs, clubs and theatres closed at an unprecedented level and I want to save the soul of the city."
Hodges, whose policies include forcing train companies to accept Oyster cards, staggering school leaving times and "replacing bendy buses with traditional ones", launches his bid in today's issue of Time Out and will invite readers to contribute to his manifesto.
The 43 year-old journalist, whose historical book AK47: The Story of the People's Gun won favourable reviews last year, lives in Sydenham but grew up in Scarborough, Yorkshire.
After formally launching his bid tomorrow at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park, he plans to spend the next few weeks canvassing to raise the £10,000 required to enter the battle. He then pledges "old-fashioned campaigning", travelling from borough to borough with a megaphone.
He said: "We have 200,000 readers and they are the kind of young people who make this city tick.
"They are the true celebrators of the capital and they will be contributing to the manifesto which is unique.
"Ken Livingstone claims to celebrate London and its diversity. He does this throughbigevents buthe'snotsohoton the smaller, grassroots stuff.
"London is made up of lots of small communities, what matters to them is the little things.
"The Greyhound pub, which is at the end of my road, and is a real community hub, is closing down to make way for a modern housing development. Ken has the power to stop this but he doesn't and it's a scandal."
Despite being vehemently against Ken Livingstone being re-elected, Hodges says he is equally unimpressed with the other main candidates - Conservative Boris Johnson and Liberal Democrat Brian Paddick.
He said: "London is a city of the future and Boris is a figure from the past. We deserve better than a PG Wodehouse character who is illequipped to understand ordinary Londoners. Brian Paddick is too single-issue and only focuses on crime which perpetuates this myth that Londoners live in fear of crime." He hopes that some of the celebrities and arts groups championed by his magazine will back him in the coming weeks.
Reader views (4)
Yeah, really committed to fighting for the people of London - all a big PR stunt (which attracted very little PR, ironically) and was more about having a dig at Boris than actually seeking to improve London.
- David Morley, London
"forcing train companies to accept Oyster cards... lives in Sydenham"
So, no bias there then, it's not as though he lives somewhere where he can only get into central London via a train. I note he also complains about his local pub, the greyhound (which is a dump) being closed down, perhaps he should consider running as a local councillor as he seems to know nothing about anything outside of his own world.
- Mike Lit, Crystal Palace
Hodges could be well be the man we have been waiting for - the Barak Obama of London politics: a youthful, suave and serious politician with the popular touch and emitting the sweet aroma of change.
- Dan Davies, London, England
Go on Hodges! Power to the people.
- Stephen O'Malley, Erm, Wapping
