London mayoral race 2021

[Jono_13]

It would be nice to see how the Green candidate would fare if they won. The opportunities to improve London are huge, and hugely challenging, but I would like to see them given a decent chance to prove themselves on a large stage.

 

[Rodrat]

He problem is always that the worst off usually are the most affected. The shift worker on low wages may only have the option of driving to work and cars and motoring is likely to be the biggest target for the Greens.

 

[paulfromcamden]

It would be nice to see how the Green candidate would fare if they won. The opportunities to improve London are huge, and hugely challenging, but I would like to see them given a decent chance to prove themselves on a large stage.

I'm always a bit disappointed the Green Party don't have more seats on the London Assembly. Even with proportional representation people seem to still vote for the two main parties.

 

[paulfromcamden]

He problem is always that the worst off usually are the most affected. The shift worker on low wages may only have the option of driving to work and cars and motoring is likely to be the biggest target for the Greens.

I can see that might well be the case for other areas but the data suggests that in London it's higher income households that are more likely to own a car.

I agree though that trying to reduce car usage seems to be the policy that many people struggle to support.

source: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/travel-in-london-report-12.pdf

 

[Woodface]

Don’t forget Lol Fox

 

[Dave H.]

some amazing characters , mr mullins has been doing a good job promoting the need for the vaccine . wonder if the birmingham mayor will come up for election? our current one is pretty good , he even came to our carol service this year !!!

Yes, the WM mayor is being elected in May too. And since IIRC cheating the rules on spending to effectively buy the office (hundreds of thousands spent early, before the rules on election spending kicked in) he has moved forward plans to reopen my local railway line. So I like that part, at least.

Less encouraged to see his ‘green’ credentials being touted when the local transport plan is mostly building roads, and the local carbon reduction target is so distant as to be meaningless. Also the stealth campaign materials pushed through the door throughout his tenure largely disguised to make them look as much as possible like a local newspaper (again IIRC, previous similar missives at least had the party name visible outside the small print).

But it was always going to be a cold day in Hell before I’d vote for him. I expect he’s in with a reasonable chance of getting back in.

 

[Paul L]

Does the post of London Mayor really matter whether their brand of politics veers towards the left or the right? I mean will London stop being our stabby-capital, owned largely by private individuals and ancient aristocracy or religious groups, the surface owned or leased by Chinese and Russians and corporates.

Caricatures I know but rather than the Life of Brian stoning I read on this and just about every other political thread here, what do you think London should be and how do you think it should get to that? Does it simply have some conflicting ideals for economy, lifestyle, ecology, diversity, wealth distribution, tourism, entertainment and so on that will never truly come together? It does look like a tough job to balance all this without inviting a lot of flac from one or more direction.

 

[wacko]

I read somewhere that London has 'lost' 700,000 residents since Brexit/Covid. Probably not a bad thing but unlikely to be 'swinging' again. Levelling down always easier than levelling up.