The independent candidacy of the partic parties Ken Livingston is the first real challenge for New Labor.
London – Since yesterday, it is clear that the Labor deputy Ken Livingston will apply as an independent candidate for the Burgermeisteramt by London. Thus Livingston, for 32 years Labor member, has also become ex-Labor Member at the same time. His party membership is suspended, the party exclusion only a matter of time. The independent candidacy of Livingstons is the leading high point of a two-year PR battle, which began when Tony Blair announced that there will be a burger master office for London.
The unloved favorite
From that moment, Ken Livingston was traded as the homested insider tip for the post. What this favorite roll contemplated was not only the fact that Livingston had already had a similar job 20 years ago, as director of the Greater London Authority (GLA) before being abolished by Margaret Thatcher. In addition, Ken Livingston was a kind of popular hero, whether as a restaurant critic, talk show guest, parliamentary member or just someone, about the almost every London a personal anecdote to tell you.
The latter is especially true for the inhabitants of the Northwest London constituency Brent, which includes the Meanting Hill since Armer’s areas such as Kilburn and West Hampstead, which had been convicted by his Caribbean inhabitants 20-30 years ago. Typical Livingston stories are always drawing him as a kind of fire brigade in the people of the people: Caribbean housing cooperative should be streamlined, Ken comes and sets the bailiffs in the way; Magistrate wants to prevent the participation of gay-lesbian groups at the starred festival, KEN sets it through; Mother protest against the grinding of a patch Grun, which barely deserves the name park, chasing the bulldozer.
But the properties that "Red Ken" Make so popular with the population, make it for Tony Blair and the New Labor Elite to Persona Non Grata. For Blair Verkorpert Livingston the "Loony Left" (Loony = crop), the Labor Party from the beginning of the eighties, which drifted to the left in opposition to Thatcher and could not win a nationwide choice. Local elections probably, and that was the reason why Livingston is about Thatcher times of the Greater London Authority, which in turn made Thatcher simply abolished, because the conservatives never win in a choice in London even at the highlight of their power against him have been.
"New Mabstabe in the election manipulation"
From the beginning Downing Street Nr.10 and Labor Party Central Millbank No doubt that Livingston was not the candidate of their choice. It was also clear, however, the support for Livingston through the left-liberal qualitative, the "redden" Tabloids and even parts of the right scandal press – as a folk politician he understood to find perspearers across party borders. However, since New Labor did not want the obvious favorites in their own ranks, another candidate had to be found. One after the other, all potential hopes waved, until concludes the then Health Minister Frank Dobson was more or less forced to rescue from his office and to explain his candidacy as a burger master. But the charismalosis, beard and overweight Burocrat Dobson looked from the beginning more like a straw man of the party interests because of a candidate’s own will.
From now on, a media spectacle followed, especially suited to produce negative publicity for New Labor. First of all, it was about the question of whether Livingston was called at the party-internal preselection. Then he was admitted, but only after two preconditions had been closed. First, Livingston had to explain in writing that in the event of a defeat in the preselection, he did not run as an independent. Second, an election mode was decided by the party’s mood, the Livingston actually no chance. And so it came to the fact that Livingston received in the area code 74,646 votes of Labor members, against Dobson votes from 22,275, but still on the basis of the different weighting of voices Dobson was proclaimed as a scarce winner and thus official New Labor candidate.
This was followed by a one-week break, in which Livingston won the for and against an independent candidacy. It was a decision for him, "between the party, which I love and the democratic right of the London. So I decided that the right of the Londoner to govern himself, it demands that I Antrete as an independent candidate". In a secondary rate he condemned the preselection process in which he was inferior, also equal as "Setting a new mabstock in the election manipulation".
Huge lead for Livingston in surveys
And in this regard seems to be a superwalking majority of the Londoner of an opinion with him. This, in addition to its unbroken popularity, may have given the rash for the overwaling lead, the Livingston received a survey of the newspaper The Guardian yesterday. 68% of the Wahler in Lodon supports him, against only 13% for Dobson. 75% of all Labour-Wahlers support Livingston and, which is really amazing, even 48% of the Mussels of the Conservative Party, although the Party Watcher William Hague again yesterday Livingston again "Linksextremists" designated.
But from Central Europe is Livingston’s politics – apart from his personal Chuzzpe – by no means Leftensive. His tarpaulin for London is actually only differing in a main point of those of New Labor, in the question of how the loved London subwayway should be operated in the future. The ancient system, which operates daily and over its stress limit, suffers from the negligence under Thatcher and Major, which favored the traffic. New Labor liked the "tube" partially privatize, in a so-called "Public private partnership" (PPP). Livingston continued to see the system through the beneficial manual operations and urgently needed funds for conservation and renewal of the ie of fixed income securities. As an example, he leads New York – after all, world capital of capitalism – where the renovation of the underground system was successfully financed via bonds. The public opinion is predominantly behind Livingston’s ideas, not least due to the negative example of the privatization of rail transport among the conservatives, which is made responsible for rough technical deficiency and resulting, devastating unfalle.
Only a short high point of popularity in the inevitable crash?
Maybe still have the "Spin Doctors" and electoral strategists from New Labour Law, who claim that Livingston is now only a short moment at the highlight of his fame. The party tip pushes now "Ken the lugner" in, because he has broken his promise, not as an independent, broken. At the same time, a very different picture of Red Ken will be summoned in the party-loyal press, which understands a jerky opportunist who understands like no other political powerful to play. With specifically lovely stories of former employees and various other methods of a lubrication campaign – where negative election advertising in England is not prohibited – is up to the choice on the 4.May count. Livingston is for criminals and against the police, Livingston is the horror of the economy and foreign investors, Livingston will increase taxes and bring the city to a standstill, swip it alone in the last 24 hours from the surroundings of the New Labor Elites alone.
In any case, it will be a fight between David and Goliath: here the party machinery equipped with a lot of money and other means, as a small Buro with hardly employees and even less money. But London is not England and even less coefficitism. On the voices of almost all the mussels from ethnic minorities can "Ken" also virtually without election advertising – and these are represented in London uberproportal. And the indie-establishment of the music industry has already been explored support. Fatboy Slim and the Chemical Brothers want to organize charity concerts, Pink Floyd-Gitarist Dave Gilmour will probably grab into their own, well-filled pockets.
Thus, the challenge of New Labor by Ken Livingston is of further political significance. Blair has the choice in "Middle England" won. This is not a geographic region (not with the "Midlands" to be confused), but the domanes of the "Mondeo Man", The average family with terraced house, average car, 2.37 children, etc.. In London is the "Mondeo Man" only a minority among many. Always Oopter has also uploved within New Labor critical voices, which mean the Third Way policy tailored to this Middle England, during this Middle England, during his traditional electoral layers of the working class and lower middle class loses to floor. Even if they do not change to other parties at the next parliamentary election, which is unlikely, but only frustrated at home, and the conservatives are easy to grow, then so certainly seemingly seemingly priority of the next choice is not quite committed by outer. The candidacy of Ken Livingston now drives another wedge into the already tense inner-party situation. Because although the large majority has bent in the last three years of the party discipline, the heart continues to speak on many Labor members and deputies.