Comments on: Ken leads Boris by 6%

By: SOCIALIST UNITY » LONDON'S DIFFICULT ELECTIONS

SOCIALIST UNITY » LONDON'S DIFFICULT ELECTIONS — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:41:15 +0000

[...] week saw the first official poll for the London mayoral election since the main candidates declared. The YouGov poll for the London [...]

By: Tommy Judd

Tommy Judd — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 17:39:53 +0000

I don’t buy this “London’s affection for Ken Livingstone” theme. Re-read the 2004 results, when he was more popular and so was the congestion charge Norris pledged to scrap the next day, and ‘affection’ doesn’t cover it. Turnout was 37% and he won 685,541 first-round votes versus 542,423 for Norris, who lost out on 115,665 UKIP votes at a time when anyone gave a rat’s about the EU. This is entirely winnable for Johnson if he raises his game.

By: Sally C

Sally C — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 15:21:15 +0000

Joe
Leeds is abit tee-ed off with London at the moment. It is the biggest city in Europe not to have a tram/tube.
The plans were scrapped by the Gov after the local council had spent alot of money, effort, building round things etc. They said there wasn’t enough money.
The cost of the whole system was less than the cost of the feasability study into the new London underground plans.

By: Joe James Broughton

Joe James Broughton — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 01:08:21 +0000

It probably doesn’t seem as relevant to people outside London.
But Sally, stay in touch so when we’ve designed our new Routemaster buses, we can sell some to run in Leeds, Sheffield, or York aswell.

By: Sally C

Sally C — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:56:10 +0000

re:London Mayor

I don’t know where you live but seriously, outside London NOBODY cares! Maybe….its just Yorkshire! I doubt if the Mancs care much either.
Its a news report that will last a day that most will not listen to. London’s affection for Ken Livingston is viewed with mild amusement elsewhere and nobody expects the marriage to end.
If Boris won, we would all be surprised and just think they have just swopped one Mad Hatter for another.

By: Joe James Broughton

Joe James Broughton — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:48:24 +0000

It really was the most stupid piece of civic vandalism.
I know we put up with things in this country, and that’s a kind of strength – but sometimes we tolerate things that are just plain crap.
We should buy some of the old ones back, so at least we can run a few on some central routes, whilst the design process is underway.

By: Joe James Broughton

Joe James Broughton — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:44:19 +0000

I used to work near Clerkenwell Road, and the last night of them on the 38 was a sad occasion.

By: Luke Blaxill (Lukw)

Luke Blaxill (Lukw) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 17:23:25 +0000

I think Boris’ support for the Routemaster might be a winner. Well, with me anyway. I love those buses so much and wept bitterly when Ken got rid of them. They filled me with pride of being a Londer everytime I saw them unlike those horrible bent busses.

By: Joe James Broughton

Joe James Broughton — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 15:21:06 +0000

I think the Tories will do well next year, but there’s not a lot of low hanging fruit next year. Lot’s of Metropolitan seats, and only up in thirds.
Labour is likely to do better than the dreadful 26% of 2004.
That could mean some Labour gains.
But the Tories should exceed the 40-41 of this year.

By: Philip Thompson

Philip Thompson — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 14:28:24 +0000

Ken is far more popular than Labour generally. A win for Ken would be a morale-booster and an embarrassment for Cameron, on what is otherwise likely to be a disastrous night for Labour. A win for Boris though could mean one universal story across the country.

And while the Mayor of London doesn’t affect the vast majority of the country, and while it is 2 unique politicians battling it out almost outside of party, the media is very London-centric. This could help set the mood of the media going forward which could impact on how the rest of the country votes.