Tory mayor – what’s the verdict?

By Len Duvall AM

I hope that the Progressive London conference session debating the verdict on Boris Johnson will also be an opportunity to discuss how we remove him. In his uncritical support for the financial services sector and his campaign to cut tax for the richest 300,000 people in Britain, he is consistently showing himself to be a mayor for the few; not the many.

The Tories are praying that the backlash against the Conservative-led government can be deflected in London by giving Boris Johnson breathing space to distance himself from Cameron and Clegg.

There is plenty of rivalry in Tory ranks but losing London to Ken Livingstone would be a shocking blow to Number Ten. The loathing senior Tories have for Boris Johnson is plain to see. But make no mistake, they will close ranks to try and keep him at City Hall.

So combined with their strategy to distance Johnson from Cameron and Osborne in order to deflect public opposition to their policies, the Conservatives will go negative on Ken Livingstone.

Previously they repeated mantra-like dismissals of Ken as being old. So Ken was a ‘game old boy‘, ‘exhumed‘, ‘retro’, ‘old’, ‘stuck in the past‘ and so on.

Quietly, the Tories have dropped that and changed tack.

The failed age attack is double-edged: it risks appearing hostile to many Londoners who may consider it an attack on them too; and those Londoners are among the most likely to vote. It can also fall apart quickly: the present Mayor of New York is actually older than Ken (and unlike Boris Johnson he has a reputation for competence). On the real record Johnson has repeatedly failed to stand up for young Londoners – over student fees and EMA for example – whereas Ken has been their champion.

The mayor failed to fight for skills, jobs and economic powers and funding.

The Tories’ new line is aimed to present Ken Livingstone as on the margins of British politics. They have switched to banging on about ‘militant union bosses‘ and organisers of ‘violent’ and ‘damaging’ student demonstrations, claiming that Ken is for ‘special interests‘, and pressing for Ken to condemn a strike on the day of the Royal Wedding (which was not in fact taking place).

The latest desperate example of this was the surreal and false claim by ConservativeHome that Labour shares its head of mayoral press with the RMT.

What is the purpose of this? It is to show that Ken does not speak for you, that whoever you are; but of course reality is the other way round. On student fees, EMA, VAT, higher fares, police cuts and protecting safer neighbourhood police teams Ken has been speaking up for the majority whilst the Tory mayor has been on the wrong side of the argument.

On the delays to the tube, the transport chaos during the cold weather, and the tube strikes, Boris Johnson has been under pressure because he does not have a grip. Whilst Ken has expressed the frustrations of commuters on these issues, Boris Johnson is out of touch.

With the tube in a mess Londoners expect more than just a headline in the Evening Standard claiming the mayor ‘shouted down the phone‘ at transport bosses. Boris Johnson is the chair of TfL; the tube is his responsibility.

The switch in the Tory attack and the decision that their Assembly members and the Mayor should tackle the Ken threat head-on in City Hall meetings when the Mayor is quizzed indicates that they are concerned that over the past few months the Assembly Labour Group and Ken’s critique of the present administration have been making headway. Combined with the shift in the polls nationally the Conservatives in London know they are facing a real fight from Ken and the London Labour party.

These Conservative tactics are high risk and no more likely to succeed than the last. They look worried. An incumbent Mayor dragged into the election so early risks becoming a candidate as much as a Mayor.

So what must Labour do? Ken needs to continue with the strategy that has the Tories rattled, and deepen it. He’s talking to Londoners and refreshing his team, including a new deputy mayoral candidate, the well-regarded Val Shawcross.

It won’t be enough for Labour to rely on the unpopularity of the Conservative-led government. To win we need to listen, to regain and retain support across London. And in the coming months we need to develop credible policies to deal with the problems London faces. Of course, this won’t be easy given the way the government has chosen to tackle the budget deficit.

The “Tell Ken” programme of visits, begun in January in Merton and heading to every London borough over this year, is key, enabling Ken to hear about the issues concerning Londoners, and that Boris Johnson has failed to address. Londoners all over the city have numerous concerns about transport, policing and their general quality of life that Labour and Ken must articulate.

We should continue our critique of Boris Johnson’s failure to deliver for the Londoners in the suburbs he promised to speak for. We need to highlight his weaknesses, his headline chasing short-termism and the frequency with which he’s misled Londoners.

We need to press ahead with our case that London is a more unfair city under a Tory Mayor – how the majority is being squeezed whilst the Mayor champions a few at the top. VAT up, inflation up, fares up, fees up, EMA cut, public services at risk, police numbers reduced – but despite this squeeze on Londoners’ quality of life the Mayor has given priority to defending bankers and calling for a lower rate of tax on the richest 1%.

London in 2012 is the big mid-term test for Cameron and Osborne. If you want them out, first vote out their Conservative mayor.

Progressive London conference session “Tory Mayor – What’s the Verdict?” with speakers from Labour, Greens and LibDems debating Boris Johnson’s record, 19 Feb, Congress House. Register in advance here.