Boris Johnson wins London mayoral race

[Damien]

Originally Posted by Osem

How bad a job Ken did or didn't do will no doubt become clearer with the results of the various enquiries and revelations which will follow his tenure. Yes he did do some good things but for me he was little more than London's Derek Hatton and will probably emulate his socialist soulmate with a lucrative career in the media, writing books and public speaking.
!

I don't think Ken Livingston had anything near the scandals that have been hitting Labour (Cash for Honors etc). Most of the charges have been small and not really substantial. I don't see many enquiries taking place into them, as for revelations we can never be sure but I don't see many of those coming.

Personally a lot of people see Ken as arrogant and very left-wing but as Mayor he was very good at distancing himself from them when he had to make polices. He really did do what he thought was good for London and as I think I have made clear, I think he was successful.

[Osem]

Time will tell....

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by Damien

I don't think Ken Livingston had anything near the scandals that have been hitting Labour (Cash for Honors etc). Most of the charges have been small and not really substantial. I don't see many enquiries taking place into them, as for revelations we can never be sure but I don't see many of those coming.

Personally a lot of people see Ken as arrogant and very left-wing but as Mayor he was very good at distancing himself from them when he had to make polices. He really did do what he thought was good for London and as I think I have made clear, I think he was successful.

i dont think ken is ever likely to rise like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes of defeat,books and after dinner speech career for him i think . the people have spoken ,well shouted really and they didn't shout come back for another term.

[Damien]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

i dont think ken is ever likely to rise like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes of defeat,books and after dinner speech career for him i think . the people have spoken ,well shouted really and they didn't shout come back for another term.

He was not all out rejected, It was close. Even that was despite the massive unpopularity of Labour

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

i dont think ken is ever likely to rise like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes of defeat,books and after dinner speech career for him i think . the people have spoken ,well shouted really and they didn't shout come back for another term.

Well he only lost by 100 000 or so it was more of a whisper really and he'd have won if this country weren't so obsessed with celebrities, I guess we'll get what we deserve now with that buffoon in charge

[Osem]

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

Well he only lost by 100 000 or so it was more of a whisper really and he'd have won if this country weren't so obsessed with celebrities, I guess we'll get what we deserve now with that buffoon in charge

Yes he lost by 100,000 with a buffoon as his main contender - a ringing endorsement of Red Ken that eh? lol

[frogstamper]

Originally Posted by trevortt

Delighted red Ken has gone he who caused thousands of businesses to suffer huge losses due to congestion charge while himself riding around in taxis. Just one of many reasons why London should be thankful. Boris has to prove he is up to the job firstly by tackling crime. Make London safe again. As a London girl who moved to Berkshire for a better quality of life, l hope London will give the man a chance! London Pride thats we need back and safety on the streets.

Why is it that people need to follow certain Daily Mail commentators on referring to Ken as "red Ken", I mean he has hardly been "red" in his running of London, its normally the Littlejohn brigade who portray him in this way, including that fair-minded commentator Melanie Phillips. Given the choice I would rather be red than a bigot.

As regards the congestion charge, and business's suffering huge losses I don't hear of Boris rescinding it, and of course things were great before, traffic moving at 1890 speeds. Of course Ken wasn't perfect, but on the whole he did a good job, lets see if Boris can say the same in 4 years without his media minders and Lynton Crosby orchestrating his every move.


Ive just noticed we have cross posted Osem, Id like to make it clear I'm referring to Littlejohn and Phillips in my bigot remark, not anyone on CF.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by frogstamper

Given the choice I would rather be red than a bigot.

... and if you truly believe that then calling Livingstone Red Ken is pretty low of the Richter scale of possible insults isn't it? Not nearly as bad as likening a Jewish journalist to a Nazi I'd have thought..... but then Ken is as good at handing out insults as he is at being the target of them.

[frogstamper]

Originally Posted by Osem

... and if you truly believe that then calling Livingstone Red Ken is pretty low of the Richter scale of possible insults isn't it? Not nearly as bad as likening a Jewish journalist to a Nazi I'd have thought.....

Its an old insult from the 80s designed to "frighten" middle class voters by the Daily Mail, its a pretty low jibe on their part but what else would you expect of them.!

That Nazi jibe is a total non story, a journalist who follows you about at 1 in the morning hassling you, any fair minded person knows full well he used that remark as a jibe at the journalists behavior, not at his religion.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Osem

Yes he lost by 100,000 with a buffoon as his main contender - a ringing endorsement of Red Ken that eh? lol

People look at him as a celebrity buffoon, it makes all the difference, seriously this country is obsessed with them, Big Brother gets more voters than most elections

---------- Post added at 11:27 ---------- Previous post was at 11:25 ----------

Originally Posted by Osem

... and if you truly believe that then calling Livingstone Red Ken is pretty low of the Richter scale of possible insults isn't it? Not nearly as bad as likening a Jewish journalist to a Nazi I'd have thought..... but then Ken is as good at handing out insults as he is at being the target of them.

If that chap was behaving like a concentration camp guard and Ken said it to him before he mentioned his ancestory IIRC why shouldn't he be challanged over it? Perhaps Ken shouldn't have said it to him again but then perhaps the journalist should have shut up and looked at his attitude rather than smelling a story

[Damien]

Originally Posted by Osem

... and if you truly believe that then calling Livingstone Red Ken is pretty low of the Richter scale of possible insults isn't it? Not nearly as bad as likening a Jewish journalist to a Nazi I'd have thought..... but then Ken is as good at handing out insults as he is at being the target of them.

He called him that before he knew he was Jewish, It's just that Ken refused to apologize saying that he didn't see why he should retract his remark just because he found out the reporter was Jewish. He properly should have said sorry but it was hardly anti-Semitic

I agree that being a buffoon helped Boris rather than hinder him, I mean it certainly was not his policies that got him elected

[papa smurf]

you Londoners [ken fans]do seem to chew a lot of sour grapes, it was a fair race and he lost ,no need to insult the WINNER is there?,he's not insulting the LOOSER is he ? .

[Matt D]

Originally Posted by Damien

He was not all out rejected, It was close. Even that was despite the massive unpopularity of Labour

I wonder what the effect would have been if Ken hadn't re-joined the Labour Party before his second election, & had stayed as an Independent.

[Russ B]

I heard on the radio that Boris has supposedly made racist comments in the past, does anyone know what they were?

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by Russ B

I heard on the radio that Boris has supposedly made racist comments in the past, does anyone know what they were?

do you want a plate to empty that can of worms onto http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...-election.html