Ken Livingstone: A long, colourful career dogged by controversy
Saturday, 3 May 2008
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There are nearly three million adults and children in London who were not born when Ken Livingstone arrived on the political scene as the most celebrated local government leader since Joseph Chamberlain ran Birmingham in Victorian times.
Before Gordon Brown was even an MP, and while David Cameron and Boris Johnson were Eton schoolboys, the man with the nasal south London twang had achieved the status of a household name as leader of the Greater London Council.
It was a political career that began and ended in controversy. During the 1981 local elections, the London Labour Party was led by an ordinary municipal politician. As soon as Labour had control of the council, left-wing councillors tossed out their old leader, and installed Mr Livingstone, the ultra-left, attention-loving, newt-rearing son of working class Tories from one of the poorest parts of south London.
It is not just the time spent in the public eye that makes Mr Livingstone unique – it is also the vitriol he has attracted from one quarter after another. When the office of Mayor of London was created in 2000, Tony Blair was determined that whoever stood as Labour candidate, it was not going to be Mr Livingstone.
Cheated of the nomination in a questionable selection process, Mr Livingstone ran as an independent and stormed home. Later, he made peace with the Labour Party, and it may have been the party's unpopularity rather than his own than finally finished him. The former prime minister was by no means the only person to try to block Mr Livingstone's political career. The political use that he made of the office of leader of the GLC irritated Margaret Thatcher so much that she abolished the council.
Tabloid newspapers also set out to destroy him. Early in the 1980s, The Sun ran Mr Livingstone's photograph under the headline "The Most Odious Man in Britain." This year, the Evening Standard, London's main newspaper, campaigned relentlessly, day in and day out, to bring Mr Livingstone down. Channel Four joined in, with an hour-long denunciation. This unending chorus of antagonism obscured Livingstone's considerable ability to make things happen.
It is unlikely that any other politician would have taken the risk of offending car owners by introducing the congestion charge. In his first incarnation as GLC leader, he was accused of being anti-police, but as Mayor he backed the head of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Ian Blair, through every controversy. On Mr Livingstone's watch, London's crime figures fell five years in succession. He also negotiated £16bn funding for Crossrail, which will be one of the biggest developments in public transport in the world, and played a central role in securing London's bid for the 2012 Olympics.
Conceding victory to Mr Johnson at City Hall last night, an emotional Ken Livingstone apologised to the senior and junior members of the Labour Party who helped him fight his campaign, saying he accepted full responsibility for the defeat. He also paid tribute to London, calling it "the greatest city of the 21st Century".
He said: "I want to thank Londoners for allowing me for eight years to serve as your Mayor – it has been the most amazing experience. I really give you my assurance I'll do all I can to help the new administration in any way it seeks. But in whatever role, I will continue whilst I live and breathe to live in this city, to love this city, and to work to make it better."
