ConservativeHome's London Mayor blog

Livingstone's shredding period

We're loathe to be presumptive about the mayoral contest, the outcome now depends on the ground war which means all of us getting out to campaign for Boris.

But it's worth pausing a second to consider the difficult days that would follow a Boris win. Something not generally known about is that Ken Livingstone and his cronies have two whole days - starting from the result being announced on Friday evening - before they have to leave their offices. By way of contrast, if David Cameron wins the next General Election he would take control of the levers at 10 Downing Street the next morning and the whole process would be overseen by the cream of Britain's civil service.

So assuming there are no recounts Boris' team will have to wait until Sunday evening before getting the keys to his offices.  What controls are there to prevent industrial-scale shredding of paperwork that Livingstone and his Socialist Alliance inner circle might want to keep away from the incoming administration?

We understand Boris HQ have been taking calls from GLA insiders anxious to declare themselves as allies should he win, but they are undoubtedly outnumbered by Livingstone's cronies. Estimates of the size of his "hardcore" vary from thirty to eighty employees, although the Mayor is only supposed to handpick a dozen for his personal team. Boris may face some tough decisions in identifying staffers who are nominally public servants but are, in reality, Livingstone placemen.

If the busiest period of Boris' working life ends in success, his most difficult challenges will only have just begun.

Simon Heffer does Red Ken's work for him

"Mr Johnson is not a politician. He is an act."

"It was decided, presumably by one of the advertising men who now control the Conservatives, that the only way to beat an act was with another, even better one. They certainly went to the right man."

"There were stooges when Mr Johnson was en route to be president of the Oxford Union. He has had stooges all through journalism, who did significant parts of his various jobs for him, usually with little thanks or reward. And now there are stooges in politics."

"One of Mr Johnson's failings is a belief that the public is there to serve him, not vice versa."

"Would a Johnson mayoralty be yet one more chapter in an epic of charlatanry"?

"The guiding theme of his life is the charm of doing nothing properly."

"He is pushy, he is thoughtless, he is indiscreet about his private life."

All of those attacks appear in Simon Heffer's column today.  Mr Heffer criticises Ken Livingstone and Brian Paddick but the bulk of his acid is retained for Boris.

Boris isn't perfect.  Project Cameron isn't perfect.  ConservativeHome has often been critical of the direction of the Conservative Party but, as noted before, we'd much rather have the Conservatism of Mr Cameron than that of Mr Heffer.  We hope our critiques are constructive and well-timed.

Mr Heffer, in contrast, appears to be determined to undermine the Conservative Party at every opportunity.

Ken Livingstone stands for everything The Telegraph should disdain.  He has raised taxes, gummed up London with bureaucracy, attacked private charity, embraced Muslim extremists and forged links with odious dictators.

We predict - with all our efforts - that Boris will win tomorrow.  Despite the best efforts of Simon Heffer.

Can you help get out the vote over the next 48 hours?

Not long now until polling day.  If you are able to help get out the vote in the final stages please email [email protected] with your contact details (including post code) and you'll be put in touch with local campaign.  You may end up in the telephone  call centre at CCHQ.  Pictured above is Graeme Archer with Boris himself.

Another way of helping is to send the ConservativeHome video to your friends.  The link is http://www.themudthrower.com.

Labour's Kate Hoey agrees to become advisor to Boris

Two weeks ago there was some confusion after an unwell Kate Hoey pulled out of a Boris event but - just speaking to Nick Ferrari on LBC - Boris Johnson has announced that the Labour MP for Vauxhall will serve as a non-executive Director advising Boris on sport and the Olympics.

All this depends upon Boris winning on Thursday, of course, but will Ms Hoey now keep the Labour whip?  Two days before a crucial election she has given the Tory candidate a significant boost.

Mr Johnson told Nick Ferrari that Ms Hoey will boost sports facilities across London, protect school and other playing fields and ensure that ALL London's kids benefit from the Olympics.  Ms Hoey was a Sports Minister for Tony Blair.

11am: Is Ms Hoey in trouble with Labour? This from Adam Boulton & Co:

"On his way out of Cabinet, Chief Whip Geoff Hoon was asked by Sky's Niall Paterson if Hoey should have the whip removed. "We'll see," was the succinct response."

Noon: Robert Halfon's take - from GOATS to OATS

Dirty tricks Ken starts throwing the mud

One of the reasons we made our mudthrower video was that we expected Ken Livingstone to start smearing as election day neared.

We haven't been disappointed:

The Evening Standard has a copy of a Labour leaflet warning that the Freedom Pass is under threat if Boris wins.  It isn't.  Boris has repeatedly says that he will protect the Pass and does so again in his final broadcast.

Also in the Evening Standard we learn that a Bengali language leaflet is being circulated that says that Boris Johnson "hates Muslims" and will ban the Koran.

We also have Livingstone-backed London newspapers winning extra advertising from Transport for London.  There should be a ban on such things happening during election times.

We must hope that today's YouGov poll and its 11% lead for Boris Johnson is accurate.  The sooner London is rid of the low-low politics of Livingstone the better.

Battle of the pollsters

The race for Mayor is justn't a battle between Boris, Ken and Brian; it's a battle between MORI, Mruk Cello, ICM and YouGov.  Last minute events and differential turnouts mean that polls never pretend to be accurate predictions of a result but over the next few days we'll be updating this table to compare the pollsters' final numbers.

On Friday we had what we think is MORI's final poll and that showed a victory for Ken Livingstone on second preferences by 6%.

Today a Mruk Cello poll for The Sunday Times also has Livingstone ahead on second preferences but only by 2%.

Tomorrow, for the Evening Standard, we'll have YouGov's final survey - YouGov has consistently put Boris Johnson in the lead.

We are also expecting an ICM survey.  We'll fill the box in as we get all of the results.

PoliticsHome's poll of Westminster insiders shows 57% expecting a Boris win; 43% expecting Ken Livingstone to retain London's Mayoralty.

Extravagant Livingstone, and his heavy-handed minders

A new video focuses on Livingstone's profligacy:

Under Ken our tax to the mayor has doubled. So what does Ken spend the money on?

• £3,700,000 - More spin doctors than the Prime Minister
• £4,000,000 - Free tea and biscuits for Transport for London workers
• £12,000,000 - Voluntary contribution to the European Space Agency

Remember: This is our hard-earned money. Ken Livingstone has wasted enough. On May 1st: Make him pay.

And another catches two of his minders knocking over a 10yr old Boris-supporting girl as she tried to approach him:

Also click here to watch ConservativeHome's 'Ken The Mudthrower' video.

MORI Unison poll puts Livingstone 6% ahead on second preferences

A new Ipsos-MORI poll funded by Unison has Livingstone ahead by 3% on first preferences and 6% with second preferences. The Guardian notes that strangely the final results include answers from people known not to be registered voters. With this taken into account the lead decreases to 4%.

PoliticalBetting has the story and notes that it's not yet clear whether the wording has been improved on since the last poll.

The Case Against Ken Livingstone (and images of Boris' biggest backer)

Earlier today ConservativeHome was outside City Hall to see Chris Grayling MP launch the Conservative Party's Case Against Ken Livingstone.  The Case represents a comprehensive demolition of Livingstone's record on transport, transparency, crime, housing and the environment.  PDF here. Alongside him were MPs Andrew Rosindell, Stephen Hammond and John Horam; GLA candidate James Cleverly; and council leaders Stephen Greenhalgh (our taxcutter of the year) and Ian Clement (Bexley).

Chris Grayling ended his brief presentation by reminding us of his favourite Ken Livingstone quotation (from 2003):

"I will save the Routemaster.  Only some ghastly, dehumanised moron would want to get rid of the Routemaster."

On the way back from the launch ConHome's outside broadcasting unit (a bicycle) spotted Boris' most enthusiastic backer in a Citreon 2CV emblazoned with Back Boris stickers.  The photos aren't great (it was a busy road) but you get the idea...

Ken Livingstone, the mudthrower

Here are some of the background stories featured in the video (and others too):

Mayor's BNP outburst at Phillips: London's mayor has accused the head of the UK's race watchdog of "pandering to the right" so much that "soon he'll be joining the BNP" - BBC

Mayor is suspended over Nazi jibe: London's mayor has been suspended from office on full pay for four weeks for comparing a Jewish journalist to a concentration camp guard - BBC

Attacked gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell: "Unburdened by diplomatic sensitivities, the mayor compared a Jewish journalist to a "Nazi concentration camp guard", called civil rights campaigner Peter Tatchell "an Islamaphobe" and admitted: "I just long for the day I wake up and find that the Saudi royal family are swinging from lampposts."  Livingstone is an arrogant bully. After so many years at the top, he is starting to breathe his own exhaust. His self-regard is becoming self-destructive. What began as a light whiff of dodgy dealings by one of his apparatchiks has rapidly developed into a stench of sleaze at City Hall." - Jeff Randall in The Telegraph

Investigative journalist attacked: After Martin Bright (a married father) had proved Ken Livingstone to be drinking alcohol at 10am, Ken Livingstone attacked Martin Bright as "like a 40-year-old virgin still living with his parents." Source: Guardian.

Attacks on Andrew Gilligan: "Livingstone would seek to divert attention from those uncomfortable facts [on alleged corruption], and those unanswerable questions, by fanning a giant dust-cloud towards his accusers. So I have been accused by the mayor of politically motivated smears, of fraud, of racism, even, quite literally at one point, of murder (of David Kelly, of course - do keep up)." - Gilligan himself writing for The Guardian's Comment is free

Whistleblower is smeared: "A former key adviser to Ken Livingstone today tells how he and others breached the strict rules governing political campaigning, including raising money from donors for the Mayor of London's election campaign.  The claims have prompted a ferocious rebuttal from the mayor's office, which yesterday described Atma Singh, 47, Livingstone's policy adviser on Asian affairs between 2001 and 2007, as an 'embittered ex-employee' who was 'removed' from his job." - Observer

No answers, just smears: "There are also allegations that his London Development Agency made grants to dubious businesses linked to Lee Jasper, a close adviser, a charge that Mr Livingstone dismisses as a smear." - Economist

Smearing The Evening Standard because of its investigations into Livingstone's crony, Lee Jasper: "Livingstone accuses the paper of a "dirty racist campaign" against Jasper." - Guardian

Attacked US Ambassador as a "crook": "Mr Livingstone's style also draws ire. He is truculent, calling the American ambassador to London a “chiselling little crook” for not making embassy officials pay the congestion charge." - Economist

Harassment and bullying of staff: Detailed by Atma Singh in The Times

Watch Ken Livingstone 'lose it' during a General Assembly session:

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