I didn't like "Ken" and I am glad to see the back of him.

He is cynical, divisive and ruthless. A nasty piece of work.

London deserves better.

Unfortunately it got Boris instead.

Ah well.

I didn't like "Ken" and I am glad to see the back of him.

He is cynical, divisive and ruthless. A nasty piece of work.

London deserves better.

Unfortunately it got Boris instead.

Ah well.

Read and follow my blog for some weekly irreverent nonsense!

http://hinchysweeklywaffle.blogspot.co.uk/

http://riyadofbritain.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/kens-last-stand/

Ken Livingston’s Last Stand

Riyad Karim 5th May 2012

@RiyadOfBritain
The fact that Boris won the London mayoralty last night by just a small and slender margin, has taken the shine away from otherwise substantive and sweeping Labour council gains across the nation.

The pundits and pollsters could not have imagined how the close to call the actual result was at the end. Ken had stood a gallant, principled, fair and just last stand but we need to explore further with added impetus and gusto as to the reasons for his defeat given such a narrow result. It is easy to generalise that Ken was simply the wrong choice of candidate but then now one has to ask how Livingston could pull off such a strong vote against all the odds/polls, against Boris, who despite contemporary Tory unpopularity nationwide remains, bizarrely, appealing. Indeed, much has been made of the fact that Boris has managed to detach himself from the toxicity of the Conservative brand, and that his charisma has transcended partisan boundaries and, this has been portrayed as being the real reason behind why he has managed to secure a second term as Mayor. No doubt, this popular and colourful character will always lean on his eccentric charms, gaffes, helpful manipulative press, and financial allies to help steer him through the difficult waters of a second term in recession. He will also prove to be a pain for Cameron in the coming months and years ahead.

It is far more uncomfortable and inconvenient for the Labour Party, however, to look into the real reasons for the defeat by only 3% from within, and not to focus on convenient excuses referring to Boris’s personality and neither to pander to the nonsensical drivel that Ken was the wrong man for the job. The detractors would wish us to blame Ken for the tax issue regarding his pay. Ken has explained this meticulously, it is as if they were hoping, nay willing Ken to lose, to prove that he should have not been the candidate in the first place.

Let us deal with a reality check that we can all agree upon. Victory in London would have been the jewel of the crown for Labour, and the perfect way to start the road to electoral victory in 2015. No matter what you may think, despite all the gains made recently, this narrow margin of defeat raises many questions that need answers. Many Labour activists felt very uncomfortable earlier this morning as they woke up to another Tory dawn in London. It seems clear that many in Labour need to do a bit of soul searching, seek their own counsel and conscience and reflect, for after all, it should be those from within Labour ranks and not Ken who should be saying sorry for the defeat.

I can understand to what lengths and depths the nature of personal vilification would stoop to against Ken, unleashed by a tirade of untruths and smears from Boris et al. The victory last night is attributed to a quirky Boris, a loveable Toff/ rogue who feels comfortable under his own skin, who despite a Tory meltdown yesterday (and gosh what a victory that was from securing Labour Councillors in Moortown, Leeds, Tunbridge Wells , Chipping Norton and taking over control of Birmingham, Cardiff, etc and holding Glasgow), could resist Ken’s political comeback. But it was the attacks from those closer to home, from Labourites that was the most bitter pill of all, as they wielded their political daggers to Ken constantly, they disliked and envied his proximity to all Londoners, and who also jumped on the Evening Standard and Boris bandwagon in focusing on his alleged “baggage”. Ken is no sectarian, he is a genuine man of the Left, a secular ethical socialist who unites all under Labour and in an inclusive British umbrella offering a just, fair and pluralist vision for the here and now and a progressive future. I am dismayed that many figures who comment on Labour etc from across the board like the blogger Dan Hodges etc and even Labour Lord Sugar from the business community, publicly denounced Ken. Many Labourite and Tory commentators sharpened their knives with even much more glee last afternoon to early evening when they assumed that the gap was wide and a Boris victory was inevitable. These individuals were complicit in pummeling Ken in the eyes of Londoners before and during the campaign too, but with pundits discussing the increasing likelihood of a Boris victory these populist opportunists felt vindicated and their dislike of multicultural Ken ran riot in their utterances.

God knows in such bleak economic times, when our present government remains aloof, a millennia away from our hard-working day-to-day concerns, when youth unemployment is skyrocketing and spiraling out of control, when the savage Tory cuts in the public sector is rampant, when hope is being extinguished from life itself, in such times as in good times, Labour needs good people like Ken and Ed Milliband, and, based on last night’s results it is resoundingly clear Londoners wanted Ken and the country needs such a person too.

Some quarters close to the Labour pulse, however, did not believe in hope and in Ken, instead they acquiesced to the fears generated from The London Evening Standard et al., and the Team Boris/Crosby propaganda machine who leveled personal attacks, vitriol and all manners of disingenuous smears that included the allegation that a London under Ken would somehow be in the pocket of one group over another, and that Ken would play off sectarian interests. Ed Milliband remained committed enthusiastically to the Livingston campaign throughout.

Two days ago, thousands of British Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and atheists, humanists, all as a united London front, lined up to voter booths across our brave and beleaguered capital, desperately seeking Ken’s return to office. But regrettably some did not. Ken clearly would have received the bulk of second preferences from Benita, Jenny Jones et al and even received unflagging twitter support throughout from Salma Yaqoob of the Respect Party who celebrated further 5 councillor wins in Bradford.

Last night when the election result was so painstakingly close and yet such a long drawn out affair, and many of us were checking tweets right until the bitter end, were we not all Londoners? After such sweeping victories across the UK we knew full well that this would not necessarily translate in whole into the London mayoralty result, as we were aware of the scale of the negative onslaught against Ken from inside and outside, but we were still, nevertheless, pinning our hopes for a favourable result. When the result was announced and the narrow margin declared, who could blame Ken. Many of us felt betrayed and let down from the derisive and divisive misrepresentation from the media, from certain named Labour individuals and let’s face it, from not receiving enough backing from some quarters of Labour rank and file membership who may have fallen foul to the sectarian fears espoused by Boris et al.

Ken Livingston’s speech last night was simply brilliant, forceful, powerful and yet delivered in his own quietly mannered style; it was a wake up call for all activists to continue the hard work to unite all Londoners and for us to unite Britain for a better future in 2015. It was speech full of sadness of the lost opportunity to provide a credible Centre Left alternative to the vagaries of free market madness unleashed by Boris and his neoliberal allies in 10 Downing Street and the City. Londoners would still have to face high travel fares, suffer from unsustainable housing and exorbitant rental costs, high youth and graduate unemployment, and be powerless to resist the commercialisation of the NHS.

Many succumbed to Boris’s charms and bravado, but that does not pay the bills, whilst it may provide much light entertainment in this nihilistic age of celebrity and consumption. It’s some of the Labour core voters who betrayed Ken and his progressive, inclusive and secular vision for the capital that truly disappoints us on the progressive Left the most. Extra work most be undertaken to unite all Labour Londoners irrespective of creed, race, and sexuality, this is a most urgent task going forwards that will heal us all. Indeed, after this has been done, irrespective of partisan affiliation it is Labour that is well-placed to heal all Londoners, unite them on the Common Good and unite Britain for the prospect of a fairer place to live in 2015 that will under a Labour government work for us all and not just for the few.

Whilst the scale of Labour victories saw a vindicated Ed Milliband traversing the nation, pointing to sizeable and significant wins, the failure of capturing London has given Cameron a sort of temporary reprieve, and taken away the glow of the Labour advances. Notwithstanding, the mayoralty result leaves Londonwithout Ken forever, and that is a travesty of epic proportions.

The Labour party remains committed to working tirelessly for a Milliband Govt in 2015, and what a signal Ed sent to Warsi’s CCHQ, by the strong substantive results across the country, but hundreds of thousands, if not millions of progressives and ethical socialists wish to make it clear that Ken has to be part of that effort and must be in a future Labour Government, this talent must not be lost and must be given further oxygen to contribute to the greater good. Livingston is not a toxic brand, he was, indeed, the right candidate for the right place for the right time, given the narrowness of the result; ultimately, it was us in Labour who let him and Londoners down.

The Tories and Baroness Warsi’s CCHQ, in particular, at the dismay of now teeming lines of ousted, redundant Tory provincial and urban councillors, allegedly, had poured substantial resources into London to fight Ken. I wish the rank and file of Labour members across London and the nation had done the same with same level of magnitude, fervour and zeal. If this had occurred and we were are all behind Ken as a united party then his last stand would have received the reinforcements necessary to secure and snatch a sensational victory from the claws of defeat. Thankfully, many of us who share Ken’s progressive vision for London did but also many had let Ken, London, and Labour down too. Lest we forget London would have been better off with Ken.

In a lovely little twist:

"Labour activists rounded on Livingstone for crassly insulting Jewish voters. It was pointed out that in seats with strong Jewish communities, such as Barnet, the Labour candidate outpolled his Tory rival by 21,000, yet in the mayoral election in the same seat Johnson beat Livingstone by 24,000."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/may/04/local-elections-drubbing-...

Let's review:

Lots of people say dump Boris. He's doesn't know what he's doing. Trickle down economics doesn't work, etc. Yet, when push comes to shove, they vote for him. Why? Is it because he's the "lesser of two evils"?

Ken hurt himself with his "dodgy" tax arrangement. Excuse me, but at the moment, it's legal. Boris set up THE SAME THING, and what happens? People blissfully ignore it. Why?

One reason is because the Mostly Right Wing Powers that Be (Tories, banks, rich and powerful CEO's and the right wing MSM) said right. Red Ken. Have to stop stop him at all costs. Basic propaganda: if you keep repeating something long enough , people will believe it. Now, apparently that paid off for Boris.

Now, it's four more years of Reagan/Thatcher "we will beat it into you as long as it takes" trickle down economics that still don't work. I've been listening around to comments about Boris winning. What are people saying?

He won because he's "colorful".
Yes, many think he's an buffoon and makes London look bad. But at least he's not "Red" like Ken.

Once again, the Right Wing attack machine beats someone down. Now, good luck trying to cope with four more years of Boris.

So Mehdi, you like Kenny ? - do not think much for your 'taste' in men !