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How Ken Livingstone has set his sights on winning back City Hall in 2012
Pippa Crerar14 Jan 2010
When Labour activists gather at the rather dry-sounding Progressive London conference later this month they will see an unlikely figure on stage.
Mercury Prize-winning rapper Speech Debelle will be chewing over policy proposals and election strategy with the likes of Harriet Harman and Tessa Jowell.
It should come as no surprise. The man behind the gathering is, after all, Ken Livingstone, who is as comfortable with Hollywood actresses as he is with political philosophers.
The former mayor also knows London like nobody else in the game, which is why he has been drafted in by Labour to help fight the general election in the capital - and to try to oust the present incumbent at City Hall in a key operation dubbed "Get Boris".
Harman delivered the first punch early in the New Year when she attacked Boris Johnson's fare rises, becoming the most senior Labour figure - and apparently the first of many heavyweights - to set him in her sights.
In fact, the Evening Standard has learned, Labour has set up a dedicated unit to orchestrate attacks on Boris in the run-up to the borough and general elections - managed not entirely coincidentally by Ken Livingstone's former chief-of-staff, Simon Fletcher.
Fletcher's task is to subject the country's most powerful elected Tory to a sustained mid-term assault, raising fears among voters of worse to come if his party makes it to No 10.
Fletcher's team of activists will scrutinise every move Boris makes over the coming weeks, whether it is defending bankers or justifying fare increases, and try to use it to destabilise David Cameron.
They recognise that it will be tough to make a serious dent in Boris's popularity but they think raising questions about his achievements - or lack of them - could be enough to turn him into an electoral liability. With around 20 London seats on the Tories' national hit list, the strategy makes obvious sense.
But the mission to paint Johnson as "out of touch" with ordinary Londoners and standing for the privileged few is not, it seems, solely about getting Labour re-elected; it is also, insiders say, the first move in a Ken Livingstone comeback campaign.
Under the umbrella of Harman's attack on Boris, Livingstone made his first policy pledge since leaving City Hall - that he would reverse the fare increases.
A close friend says: "Ken definitely wants to stand. He'll have to make a final judgment about it when they declare the nominations open but I don't see him not running."
Former colleagues talk about Livingstone's renewed enthusiasm for the job after the dark days of 2008. "I think Ken is in a different place from when he was on the campaign," says one. "He was jaded and tired but didn't seem to know it. He's like a little bouncy Tigger at the moment. I wouldn't write Ken off yet. He must be a front-runner and rightly so because of what he's achieved."
And the significance of returning to City Hall in 2012 - when the next mayoral election is held - and being part of the Olympic euphoria sweeping the capital is not lost on him, either.
"It's not the main motivation but of course it would be the icing on the cake," says a friend.
The Get Boris unit kicked off its campaign by highlighting the Mayor's inflation-busting New Year fares increases on Tubes and buses which hit millions of commuters.
Fletcher is said to have recognised that the core vote strategy - so derided by Lord Mandelson - has failed and believes the party needs to appeal to the middle classes.
That means targeting more outer Londoners whose votes helped propel Boris to City Hall by pointing out his failure, for example, to re-zone Surbiton station and raising fares on the Croydon tram.
"He has got away with too much for too long but his charm will inevitably start to wear thin as his policies start to bite," says one strategist. "He has enough of a record now to talk in a more coherent way about what he is doing - and not doing."
Policy decisions, then, rather than personal attacks (branding him a buffoon, a racist and a toff failed during the mayoral election) are the order of the day.
However, Labour's degree of success will depend on the outcome of the general election; it would be easier to attack a Tory candidate with a Tory government to rail against.
It would also free up a handful of senior figures who might be interested in running for the mayoralty. Lord Mandelson's name is already in the frame and Harman, Tottenham MP David Lammy, Tessa Jowell or even Jack Straw could be interested.
But using Livingstone as Labour's mascot poses a huge dilemma for many in the party who distrust and dislike him. His already testy relationship with Gordon Brown was soured forever by battles over Tube financing.
Even Livingstone's most ardent supporters recognise that he has some questions to answer before the party openly embraces his nomination. He has never publicly expressed any contrition since losing the election - not over Lee Jasper, his disgraced former race adviser, ignoring the suburbs or the personal attacks on Boris.
He will be 66 in the run-up to the 2012 election and has to persuade the party that he's neither too old for the job nor a throwback at a time when Labour will need to appear fresh and new.
Indeed, some senior party figures emphasise that the appointment of Fletcher - who was Livingstone's best man at his wedding to Emma Beal last year - as London campaign and research director should not be interpreted as an endorsement.
"If you appoint someone like Simon people will put two and two together and make five. But if anyone is trying to link him to the issue of Ken's candidacy, they would be wrong."
Fletcher's appointment was cleared by No 10, however, suggesting that the Prime Minister is well aware of the message it sends out.
And clearly the party recognises the worth of having Livingstone onside as discussions are already under way about his fund-raising and campaigning role.
"I don't think it does the party any harm to have good relations with Ken," says one Labour HQ insider. "Not only is he a future possible mayoral candidate but he is also somebody who is largely an asset in campaigning terms."
For his part, Boris's team claims the Mayor is relaxed about the attack unit - and even welcomes the challenge.
"The Labour Party are finally reconciled to the fact that Boris Johnson is a serious grown-up politician, that dismissing him as a joke has failed as a strategy because it doesn't tally with people's expectations of him," says a spokeman. "It was always recognised that at some point they would sharpen up their act."
The Tories will respond to any policy attack by dismissing the Labour alternatives as "fantasy finances" of the type they claim has virtually bankrupted Britain.
City Hall aides point to the Mayor's popularity - he has 60,000 followers on Twitter, which is more than David Cameron - as proof that he will be able to galvanise the capital's Tory vote for the general election.
Just as Labour will be tapping into Livingstone's experience, so Johnson will be deployed to campaign for his side. Sometime this spring, the Ken and Boris show will take to the streets of London once more.
Reader views (27)
We have surely had enough of these two twits ,there must be a sensible person around who could fill this post.
- Davey_Bouy, Chertsey, 18/01/2010 18:34
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Ken moved London into the 21st century, and his progressive views on life in city was pivotal in us landing the Olympics which will turn East London into a major hub. Boris on the other hand has done nothing but make Londoners' life miserable and I think his time is short lived.
- Kay, London, 16/01/2010 14:41
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Glad to see the standard is finally being even handed in its coverage! Boris has been a total nightmare for london - my tube faires have gone through the roof and meanwhile he swans around on Eastenders living it up like a celeb - shows how out of touch he is that the closest he comes to a meaningful engagement with the east end is a fictional soap - oh, and thousands of twitter followers does not mean supporters - people who disagree with him will be following him to see how much(or in this case little) he is doing for londoners.
- Jonny, London, 15/01/2010 13:50
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What total hypocrisy for Ken's campaign to focus on fare increases. Has everyone really forgotten his own £4 single tube fare? Not to mention his blatant (politically driven) waste of OUR money on nonsenses like the"alternative" Notting Hill Carnival in Regents Park when he didn't get his own way? Vote Boris out if you will but not for a bitter and twisted has been like Ken
- Andy, London, 15/01/2010 12:10
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Kate from London forgets that before Livingstone became mayor the buses were bordering on terrible. Now they run more frequently and the last bus is later. One of my local bus routes now runs 24 hours. Now, finishing work at all hours I can use the bus to get to work and home again thereby leaving the car at home.
Underground PFI projects were opposed by Livingstone but forced upon him by the dear leader Gordo Brown.
Bendy buses wern't all that bad..except they provided free transport for the dishonest.
Livingstone had a raft of public transport projects lined up for London, which instead of building upon Boris went and did what all good Tories do...cut 'em back.
I myself had high hopes for Boris, but he has quite frankly been a disappointment. I think he's more interested in "Call me Dave[s]" job than running London for it's long term benefit.
- Mark H, London England, 15/01/2010 11:21
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Everyone has been saying for months that Labour has a death-wish, and to bring up this old has-been again, surely proves this without the shadow of a doubt.
I hope Boris washed his hands after that unfortunate picture.
- Peter Thurgood, London, UK, 15/01/2010 11:06
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Doubtless in this brave New Labour World of goldfish memories, everyone has forgotten what a hypocritical spendthrift Ken was with our money. He employed and associated himself with cronies who were often involved in fraudulent or criminal activity. He flew off around the world, trumpeting London's success, regardless of the cost to the budget or the planet.
Ok, he introduced the Oyster card and the Congestion Charge. The former is useful for anyone who travels on public transport a lot, but has only just been made widely available on London's trains; the latter is a joke that was introduced to annoy drivers and later dressed up as an environmental policy, although it causes more pollution outside of the zone than it prevents inside it.
We do not need another 4 years of that, thanks very much.
If it has to be a non-Tory, anyone as long as it's not Livingstone.
- Nobby Clark, Perth, the Scottish one, 15/01/2010 11:05
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Ken is yesterday's man - his most recent experience is in losing the mayoral election so I don't know why Labour want to draw on that.
- Roy Grainger, London, 15/01/2010 10:16
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If Boris is a serious politician, why does he not hold regular press conferences like Ken did.
I want my Mayor to be accountable directly to me by facing the press weekly and allowing them to ask him questions on any aspect of London.Its not fair that we cannot question him on a weekly basis.
Wheres the Petition when you need one? Will Boris abide by a Petition if it has enough signatures on it?
- Independent_Thinker, London, 14/01/2010 22:21
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Get Boris......re-elected !
- Herman, london, 14/01/2010 17:51
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Everything that Kate from London said! Plus the most important of all - if you actually work and pay your own way - the precept has not gone up under Boris Johnson.
As far as I am concerned the fare rises were nothing in comparison with Ken's massive precept increases year on year.
And Ken put fares up too.
- Sarahn, London, UK, 14/01/2010 17:34
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Go away Ken you've had your day, it's over and time to let go.
- Holly, London SW3 UK, 14/01/2010 17:30
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This strategy Labour has of portraying the Tories as the party of the "privileged few" might stand a chance of working if the masses felt Labour gave a damn about them. Does anyone seriously think Harriet Harman and Ken Livingstone will be looking after their interests if they are returned to power?
- Kevin T, Beckenham, Kent, 14/01/2010 16:52
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Livingstone my foot.Deadstone more like it
Ken is a joke London cant afford again
- Alex Pomeroy, london, 14/01/2010 16:19
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Blimey! has Ken been on holiday!?
- Ed, London Town, 14/01/2010 16:10
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"Fletcher's team of activists will scrutinise every move Boris makes over the coming weeks, whether it is defending bankers or justifying fare increases, and try to use it to destabilise David Cameron."
Exactly what BoJo would like. If DC doesn't get a clear majority, he will have to resign and there is absolutely no one who could counter BoJo's bid for leadership. He would then win the next general election, which could be only a year or so from this year's if there is a hung parliament, hands down.
- David Short, Tunis, Tunisia, 14/01/2010 15:37
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its ken for me should have never been voted out.
- C May, bromley, 14/01/2010 14:30
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Anyone who claims to believe in Climate Change and flies to Cuba at our expense for a couple of days is miss-using Londoner's money. Looking at comments from Ken's supporters I do get the impression that they would prefer to remove the vote from anyone who lives in Zones 4 to 6.
I thought that Ken would make a good presenter on LBC but he was so self pitying that I gave up listening. At 66 I think he will be too old for a City like London. I would like Labour to put up a candidate with fresh ideas.
The problem is of the list Straw too old and too vicar of bray, Harman Public School Toff - "You know who I am", Lord Peter Millionaire following in his masters footsteps in holidaying with the rich and Lammy never been that impressed when I've heard him interviewed but probably the best out of the suggestions.
- Dave B, Beckenham, 14/01/2010 14:24
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No, please no. Not Livingstone. I could not bear that whining voice again telling me what to do, when to do it, how to do it, how to live me life.
- Julian, Lnndon, 14/01/2010 13:35
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Labour doesn't need any help in embarrassing Boris.
The mayor's transport strategy that Boris has just consulted over was more hardline than anything Ken Livingstone has suggested. For instance it proposed parking charges based on CO2 emissions, restricting car access to residential areas and the possibility of extending the Congestion Charge in the name of forcing drivers off the road to keep CO2 emissions down.
Millions are being thrown at cycling as our fares go up.
Just the thing to cheese off Daily Mail-reading middle England who flocked to vote out Ken.
There will also be trouble if Boris fails to get rid of the West London Extension. Most people think he has already agreed to this and about time too, but didn't read the small print that it was 'subject to another consultation'.
The recent consultation was hardly high profile, with only the West London Residents Association and Association of British Drivers sounding the alarms.
I think that there is a very good chance that Boris might be looking for another job in 2012 without any 'help' from Ken.
- Jools, London, 14/01/2010 13:06
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Boris may be not a very good mayor but at least he's a laugh unlike the droning face of Livingstone. As long as Boris makes me smile he can stay in office as long as he likes.
- Dave, London, 14/01/2010 13:06
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You've had a good run Ken.London has moved on.You're an old-fashioned leftie stuck in the 70's and 80's.Stick to your cosy phone-in programmes - you can't do much harm there.Keep the red flag flying NOT!
- Laura, Guildford, 14/01/2010 13:00
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Do tell us, Ken, what was so marvelous about your term in office?
Was it the fortune spent on those magazines shoved through my door every few days with your face plastered throughout the articles declaring what a great job you were doing?
Was it the barrage of giant posters of you that Londoners were subjected to every day and everywhere with slogans about your glorious leadership?
Was it your alternative foreign policy which had you flying several times around the world at our expense so you could drop in on your chums like Castro and Chavez? Weren't exactly flying cattle class and putting up in backpackers' hostels were you, Ken?
Was it the £3+billion written off on the Underground PFI projects that went bust?
How about the millions wasted on those giant bendy buses? Very practical they turned out to be on London's streets, eh?
And, most of all, the triumph that was your war on London's motorists, the consequences of which we are still dealing with and it's still costing us a fortune.
An absolutely brilliant term in office, then, and I'm sure all us Londoners just can't wait to vote you back in.
- Kate, London, 14/01/2010 12:54
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Livingstone hasn't changed has he. What a horrible bunch these desperate Labour politicians are.
They spend all of their time criticising and none of their time coming up with new, interesting ideas.
It's pathetic and I'm embarrassed that British politics has stooped to this level.
- St, London, 14/01/2010 12:45
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Ah Ken-go stand for leadership of the Nu Improved Labour Party-they need you, not London!
- Amoreno, Luxembourg, 14/01/2010 12:44
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Ken: London is more than just zones 1-2; photo-ops of Boris cleaning up the Wandle (preferably falling in) help his cause. Get "joined up" thinking over cycle routes, recycling, gritting and you might have a better chance.
- Carl, Croydon, 14/01/2010 12:34
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You've had your day Ken give it a rest or be totally humiliated or may be jailed!
- Mike,, London, 14/01/2010 12:09
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