Crap.

[ffutures]

First vote
Boris Johnson (conservative) - 1,043,761
Ken Livingstone (labour) - 893,877

No-one else more than a hundred thousand or so.

Second preference

Boris Johnson - 124,977 - total 1,168,738
Ken Livingstone - 135,089 - total 1,028,966

So bloody stupid Johnson has won. Soddit.

Comments

[robertprior.livejournal.com]

Blowback from people fed up with the national government, maybe?

How important is party affiliation to municipal politicians in Britain?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

There are a lot of factors. One of them is that London's main newspaper hates Livingstone, and has campaigned against him since day one.

In the case of the Mayor of London it's how the guy gets on with central government that's important. Back in the Eighties Margaret Thatcher pretty much destroyed most of London's local government because she disliked Ken Livingstone (who was then running the Greater London Council). It had repercussions that continue to this day, and amongst other things destroyed the career structure of my job, which by now is probably costing me at least 2-3 thousand pounds a year. I doubt it was her intention, but her actions screwed up the lives of thousands of Londoners simply because she (and her cabinet) disliked the way London was run and Livingstone's attitude. The government can make life VERY difficult for Johnson if they want to, and if he runs true to form they WILL want to.

Johnson is fairly right-wing but dishonest about it, and has some unpleasant attitudes including a tendency to make racist and homophobic remarks then claim to be joking or to have been misunderstood. And will be running London for the next four years, for at least the first couple of which he will be the poster boy for everything national government dislikes about the conservatives.

His election speech included some remarks about hoping for "continued discussion" of law and order issues with Britan Paddick, the Liberal Democrat who has a background in the police. A few minutes later Paddick said that he hadn't ever talked to him about law and order, and wasn't planning to do so in the future. In other words, Johnson couldn't even keep the facts straight about what he'd said to the other candidates, and he was immediately called on it. That doesn't bode well for the future.

[armb.livejournal.com]

> poster boy for everything national government dislikes about the conservatives

Which might be a good thing if you don't want a Conservative win at the next general election, I suppose. (Alternatively, if you are expecting a Conservative win, Boris will then get on better with them. There's got to be bit of silver lining in here somewhere, damn it.)
Either way, it's rather a shame for Londoners in the meantime.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Forgot to say that the Wikipedia article about him is fairly factual. Look especially at the section on "controversies" towards the end.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Johnson

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Oh god.

Well, we can't mock the Americans for being stupid enough to vote for George Bush anymore I guess.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

No no, that's still OK. You can also mock us for whoever we wind up voting in next.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Nah, it just won't be the same, there's nobody quite so jaw-droppingly wrong as Bush in the frame.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but it feels much more hollow when the mocking is delivered from a position that is no longer morally superior. ;)

Though I may be inclined to manage some mockage if McCain does win. Which is looking increasingly likely.