ConservativeHome's London Mayor blog

Cameron: Livingstone is an ageing, far left politician

Tory leader David Cameron has launched a strong attack on Ken Livingstone during a speech to the Ethnic Media Conference.  According to the BBC Mr Cameron described London's Mayor as an "ageing far left politician".  He said that Ken Livingstone held "a narrative about race that sees people from ethnic minorities as potential agents of revolutionary change."  Instead, the Conservative leader continued, they should be seen as "full and equal citizens who would rather build a better life for themselves and their families than man the barricades at the behest of middle class white fantasists".

Mr Cameron's intervention follows Mr Livingstone's long-running war or words with Trevor Phillips of the Commission for Racial Equality.  The Mayor had accused Phillips of becoming so right wing that he could “join the BNP".  This childish and nasty insult followed Mr Phillips' questioning of the idea of multiculturalism but is really rooted in the fact that Phillips backed Frank Dobson rather than Ken Livingstone in the race to be Labour's Mayoral candidate.

Mr Livingstone's meanness, the mounting bill for the Olympics, London's crime wave and increasing congestion should all make 'Red Ken' beatable at the next election but the Tories are still struggling to find a candidate.

Mr Cameron also used his speech to promise monitoring of the progress of Black and Asian council and parliamentary candidates within the Conservative Party:

"I know that monitoring makes some uneasy, but if we fail to find how well we as a body are doing, we have no way of remedying the situation."

The Conservative Party also intends to offer twenty internships for young Asian and black people to work at CCHQ and in parliament:

"The fact is that it's not enough to open the door to ethnic minorities. If people look in and a see an all-white room they are less likely to hang around.  An unlocked door is not the same as a genuine invitation to come in."

Is CCHQ showing favoritism in Mayoral race?

An events co-ordinator at CCHQ has sent out this email to members of the Fastrack donors' club:

"Fastrack, our donor club for members in their 20s and 30s, are meeting the Mayoral candidates Nick Boles, Cllr. Victoria Borwick and Cllr. Warwick Lightfoot on Thursday 16th November to discuss their ‘Conservative Vision For London’.  The discussion is taking place at Conservative Campaign Headquarters from 6.30 – 8.30pm and we have some places available – these will be allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis."

I'm sure it will be a very interesting meeting but in the run-up to an election CCHQ should be extra careful not to organise meetings where one or more candidates are favoured over others.  I have checked with one of the other candidates - Lee Rotherham - and he was not even invited to be on this 'Vision for London' panel.  Naughty, naughty Central Office!  10.30am update: "The event has now been postponed because of closure of the CCHQ press conference facility.  When it is rearranged let's hope it is a more inclusive gathering..."

Meanwhile Nick Ferrari, LBC radio presenter, has continued to complain about the Tory primary timetable.  On Saturday's Radio 4 PM programme and in Saturday's FT, Mr Ferrari repeated his concern that candidates were being asked to campaign for too long in advance of the 2008 mayoral election.  The FT reported that:

"Mr Ferrari exacerbated Mr Cameron's woes by saying he was "absolutely" considering running as an independent. Business people had already pledged "not far off" the £1m needed to fund his run at the top London job."

Boris Johnson, the shadow education minister, told the FT that he had rebuffed attempts to persuade him to run.