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KEN Livingstone's forthright interview with this newspaper today should serve as a sharp corrective for anyone who believed that the former Mayor's defeat by Boris Johnson last May marked the end of his political career.
Mr Livingstone makes clear that he intends to seek the Labour nomination for the 2012 contest. That should set alarm bells ringing inside as well as outside the Labour party.
Certainly he will be a formidable opponent for those in the party keen to avoid him being its candidate: Gordon Brown had a turbulent relationship with him, while leading London MPs and cabinet ministers including Olympics minister Tessa Jowell made clear their dissatisfaction with Mr Livingstone's 2008 campaign. The danger for them is that, as in 1999 and 2004, no candidate of sufficient weight will come forward to challenge him. London Assembly and council politics have to date thrown up no Labour big beasts: it is not hard to see Mr Livingstone steamrollering party opponents as he did the hapless Nicky Gavron in 2004. And while he says he would not stand as an independent, that was what he promised in 2000 - before leaving the party.
No one should write off his chances if he were to stand against Mr Johnson. His vitality and drive are as evident as ever - as is the wit that made many Londoners warm to him, even if they despaired at times of his conduct and bias as Mayor.
Yet Mr Livingstone also still shows the arrogance that led him to fight a tired and lacklustre campaign last year. He attributes his defeat to Labour's national slide but that will not do. He was running out of steam: despite the congestion charge, the city seemed gridlocked again. Colossal waste at the London Development Agency and elsewhere cannot be so airily dismissed. And he appeared irritable and dismissive in his response to criticism. Londoners were keen for a change and gave Mr Johnson a convincing mandate.
But now the new Mayor is already embroiled in the bureaucracy and stasis of City Hall. Mr Livingstone's predictions of disaster have proved groundless but Mr Johnson has not yet put a clear stamp on the mayoralty. He has yet to set out a clear vision for a recession-hit capital. Mr Livingstone's re-emergence should serve as a warning that he cannot afford to rest on his laurels.
Head start
THE GRIM, sometimes self-fulfilling assumption that poor environments inexorably produce bad schools has been well and truly exploded by the head of a Dagenham comprehensive. When Paul Grant took over as head of Robert Clack school 11 years ago, bad behaviour was both routine and threatening. Teachers would be abused in class, pupils would smoke openly and there was a significant gang culture. This year, for the second year running, the school has been described as "outstanding" by Ofsted inspectors. It is one of 12 in the country so described, despite serving some of the most deprived communities in the country.
This change over the course of a decade can squarely be attributed to Mr Grant's efforts to identify and punish a hard core of troublemakers, thereby liberating the majority of pupils to get a decent education. Mr Grant shows that strong leadership can turn around the most unpromising schools. Ministers should now focus on ways of introducing this best practice into teacher training and replicating his success for schools in other challenging areas.
Gail's night
JUST as predicted, the 26-year-old classicist Gail Trimble led the Corpus Christi Oxford team to victory in last night's University Challenge. It was a close fight against Manchester University but Miss Trimble's last-bout, rapid-reaction display of erudition won the night. The nation's clever girls have a new role model; at last Latin scholars look cool.
Reader views (2)
Dear Ken
You're yesterdays' man - get over it.
- John, Epsom Surrey, 24/02/2009 15:26
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"Mr Livingstone's predictions of disaster have proved groundless"
I think we need to give Boris some time on this one.. The disasters will come once he has had a chance to get involved with the infrastructure projects.
So far its not been a good start; disasterous appointments to his team, he has been pretty anonymous on the economic and made no impact on crime which is the platform he stood on. However, he has delivered on his pledge to ignore the environment which will please the suburbs.
- Nick, Islington, London, 24/02/2009 13:50
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