This election has dealt such a comprehensive blow that I predict Millbank will do a Monsanto and rename itself
Published 20 March 2000
Independence has won. The debate is over. I first wrote my vision for London in the New Statesman last December. It was intended to be a clarion call to anyone who feels as strongly about this city as I do - strong enough to stand as mayor. In the absence of any other credible independent, I threw my hat into the ring. My campaign was propelled by the certain belief that only an independent mayor could introduce self-government in London, and since then it has emerged that the majority of Londoners agree (53 per cent in the last London Tonight poll). The nation-state is dead. London, following in the footsteps of Scotland and Wales, has moved one step closer towards decentralised power. The idea of independent mayors will undoubtedly spread to other cities and regions, and in the absence of an effective official opposition, opposition to the government is likely to come from these independents.
Cities will never be remembered for their bank rates, but for what they produce. They are characterised by their artists, scientists, artisans, musicians, writers and thinkers, and for the architectural space that these diverse players co-inhabit. Cities are made up of individuals - and need an individual who is an international icon at their helms. People come to London for all that makes it unique - they do not come here to visit a London of "zero tolerance", when tolerance is precisely what has epitomised London throughout its history. Life, creativity, sex and real cities are messy. Life by proxy - karaoke, pornography and theme parks - is clean. My aim has been to help London decide which it wants.
While electioneering, I am struck most by just how many people feel completely disenfranchised by the two main parties. Both parties represent a kind of management consultancy; "vision-statement" politics that alienate the majority of the population, from the old-style or "libertarian" Tories, to "real" Labourites and socialists, to the Greens and anarchists, to most blacks and Asians. There is a large chunk of the population entirely disillusioned by politics who take the view that whomever you vote for, the government gets in. The most important job in London? Why give it to a politician?
The disenfranchised and the disillusioned have found a hero in Ken. Ken is simultaneously our knight in shining armour and the wounded victim, whose nasal twang has made all our hearts beat faster. I can almost see the posters: "Ken IS London" - the very names of London districts sing out his name to make London his manor from Ken-sington Palace to High Street Ken . . . via West Ken, Ken-wood and Ken-sal Green.
When Ken crossed his Rubicon, most of us, myself included, applauded his move. Perhaps even Ken himself was astonished by the wave of enthusiasm that greeted his leap into independence. But the press, too, have their own agenda behind hurling Ken into the gladiator pit.
Even though I can't honestly claim to be a wholehearted fan of Ken Livingstone, I am glad that it looks as though London will have an independent mayor.
But is he independent enough? It worries me that he is distancing himself from anything that could be perceived as being vaguely radical, presenting himself instead as sensible, reliable and as dull as possible. Instead of "Red Ken", he's in danger of becoming "New Ken". Ken has already made it clear that he would like to be accepted back into the fold of the party he has just left. He reminds me of a battered wife unable to sever the links with an abusive husband.
This election has dealt such a comprehensive blow that I predict Millbank will do a Monsanto and rename itself, so damaged is its reputation. The very title "new Labour" - a product of spin - will probably itself be ditched sooner or later.
As an independent Londoner, I want London to have an independent mayor now and forever, one who is culturally savvy, who is recognised in Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, Madrid and New York. I want to see "No Car Days" at least once a month, free bikes for Londoners and turnpike tolls for cars into London. I would like to see staffed "women's carriages" on the tube to promote a sense of safety and freedom. I want bars in public libraries, I want to decriminalise soft drugs for the over-16s. I want a London lottery for the homeless: direct funding for social housing. I want all unused space above shops used for safe, mixed-use housing. I want art galleries and museums to be free for Londoners, and adult education to be heavily subsidised. I want to see fruit trees and farmers' markets in the parks to reconnect London to the countryside. I want a sliding scale of commercial rates to allow individuals to remain trading in London.
Some of my election campaign's most intriguing moments have been experienced by my canvassers out on the doorsteps of London as they gathered my nominations.
In Barking, a conservatively dressed middle-class couple came to the door and the woman said: "We were both big Sex Pistol fans when we were young. We went to two of their gigs, and consequently we strongly disapprove of Malcolm McLaren."
Her husband then added: "He was very good on Question Time, though."
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