Livingstone to launch his own newspaper at cost of £1.8m

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. After years of sparring with the press, Ken Livingstone has finally decided that he can no longer keep taking on the tabloids and has launched his own newspaper.

In a direct challenge to one of his biggest critics, London's Evening Standard, the Mayor of London will next month launch a rival publication called The Londoner.

Delivered direct to every one of the three million homes in the capital, the free newspaper will have a circulation second only to The Sun, a paper which once dubbed the former Greater London Council leader "the most odious man in Britain".

However, despite its tabloid format, The Londoner's only page three pin-up is Ken Livingstone. Just in case we had forgotten what he looked like, the December issue also features the Mayor's face on pages 4 and 11. In fact, with 16 references to "Ken Livingstone", 27 references to "the Mayor", a "Letters to Ken" page and several other articles quoting Mr Livingstone, his opponents are bound to claim that the paper is nothing other than propaganda.

The annual cost of The Londoner, about £1.8m, is bound to trigger criticism too, although the Mayor's office insists that it could save money currently spent on public consultation leaflets and circulars.

The paper was born after a Mori poll carried out for the Greater London Authority (GLA) indicated that most people in the city felt "poorly informed" about its activities. "Everyone knows who Ken is, but few know what we are doing," said a source.

Mr Livingstone effectively called on Londoners to boycott the Evening Standard earlier this year following its criticism of his conduct at a late-night party. He christened the paper "Baby Mail", alleged it had a right wing agenda and claimed it concentrated more on botox than the ballot box.

The new 12-page tabloid, which will be published six times a year, certainly cannot be accused of titillating its readers, as its centre spread featuring all of London's night bus routes amply proves.

Redmond O'Neill, Mr Livingstone's policy director, said: "The Mayor is committed to open government. The Londoner is a means to inform and consult every household on the policy and decisions of the GLA."

The paper's title is a clear dig at his least favourite daily, which has a gossip column called "The Londoner". But just to show there's no hard feelings, it is being printed by The Northcliffe Press, printers of the Evening Standard itself.