London mayoral election, 2008

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The London mayoral election for the office of Mayor of London takes place every 4 years. The first election was in May 2000 and the second election was in June 2004. The next mayoral election is scheduled for 1 May 2008.

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[edit] Prospective candidates

Of the parties with representation on the London Assembly, only the Green Party has so far formally selected a mayoral candidate.

[edit] Labour Party

Ken Livingstone has stated that he intends to stand for re-election as the Labour Party candidate. As the incumbent mayor with government support, it seems unlikely that he will be challenged for the Labour nomination.[1] [2]

[edit] Conservative Party

In June 2006 the Conservative Party announced that it would hold an open primary election in October 2006, in which all Londoners on the electoral register would be able to vote for the party's mayoral candidate. The party sought applicants with a closing date of 4th August 2006. Thereafter a short-list was to be drawn up following an internal selection process conducted by Conservative Central Office.[3]

On 4th August Tory Chairman Francis Maude announced that the process was being delayed for six months to allow time for further candidates to submit applications. [4] [5]

According to the Tory activists' blog ConservativeHome [6], candidates known to have applied for the position by 4th August are:

Prospective applicants who have subsequently publicly declared are:

Although Steven Norris, Conservative mayoral candidate in 2000 and 2004, originally ruled himself out prior to the 4th August deadline [10], in the absence of any other high-profile candidates, speculation has continued that he may stand again [11].

[edit] Liberal Democrat Party

In August 2006 Liberal Democrat Party Chairman and 2004 mayoral candidate Simon Hughes stated that the Liberal Democrats would be casting "the net far and wide in our search for a candidate to represent our diverse capital" and that "people from ethnic minority communities, women and non-politicos will be at the forefront of our selection process".[12] This was widely interpreted as an indication that he will not be seeking the nomination himself.

[edit] Green Party

The Greens have two London Assembly Members. On 12th March 2007 the party announced that it had selected Siân Berry as their mayoral candidate in a ballot of its London members, polling 45% of the vote [13] [14]. The other candidates were Dr. Shahrar Ali, Shane Collins, Katie Dawson and Terry McGrenera.

At the same time the Greens also elected their Assembly candidates. The lead candidates are Jenny Jones, Darren Johnson (both existing London Assembly Members), Noel Lynch (a former Assembly Member) and Siân Berry [15].

[edit] One London Party

The One London Party has two London Assembly Members (originally elected as UKIP). It has announced that it will be standing in the 2008 GLA elections but has not yet selected a mayoral candidate [16].

[edit] Respect Party

The RESPECT Party narrowly missed winning an Assembly seat in 2004. It has announced that it "will be running a full slate of candidates for all elected positions in 2008" [17].

[edit] UK Independence Party

In October 2006, the UK Independence Party announced that talkSPORT presenter James Whale may stand against Ken Livingstone in the 2008 election. Party leader Nigel Farage said that Whale "not only has guts, but an understanding of what real people think". [18] The Radio Authority has told Whale that becoming Mayor would prevent him from continuing his radio show. Whale subsequently stated on his programme that he would not be the UKIP candidate, but he has not ruled out standing for election [19].

[edit] Independents

With the notable exception of Ken Livingstone, who won the 2000 election as an independent, independent candidates have made little impression on previous London mayoral elections. Apart from Livingstone, none has polled more than 1% of the vote. Nevertheless, the high profile nature of the job often attracts well-known names to consider standing.

[edit] John Bird

In March 2007 following widespread speculation that John Bird, founder of The Big Issue, would seek the Conservative nomination [20], he announced that he would stand as an independent, stating that he would run on a platform of "social inclusion", representing housing estates and communities and highlighting issues such as ghettoisation. "I will be a mayor of the streets," he said [21].

[edit] Nick Ferrari

Discussions took place between broadcaster Nick Ferrari and the Conservative Party, but Ferrari declined to apply for the Tory nomination and is now considering standing as an independent. [22]

[edit] Voting System

The Supplementary Vote system is used for all mayoral elections in England and Wales. Under this system voters express a first choice and (optionally) a second choice. If no candidate receives 50% of first choice votes, the top two candidates go to a second round. Voters whose first choice has been eliminated but whose second choice is one of the top two candidates have their second preference vote added to the first-round totals for the leading candidates. This gives a result whereby the winning candidate can claim majority support.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


Preceded by
London mayoral election, 2004		 London mayoral election Succeeded by
London mayoral election, 2012
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