Ken was an old school socialist and this would be the first time in London’s history that Londoners could elect a mayor. Although Ken had long been affiliated to the Labour Party, he had a problem. Tony Blair the newly crowned King of Labour disliked Ken with some intensity, Livingstone represented all that the shiny new centrist Blair considered wrong and unelectable within the Labour party, you see Ken was one of those terribly dangerous socialists, he believed in crazy shit like social justice, equality, equal opportunity, public health, public schools, an effective social welfare system, political accountability and improving public services.
I've embedded a video below, which I think shows Ken Livingstone for what he is -- one of the most genuine politicians on earth. At 10 minutes it's probably a little long, he can be a bit monotone at times, but it's worth watching through. Ken’s addressing a gathered group of dignitaries in City Hall and apologizing for Britain's participation in the slave trade, watch as his raw emotions nearly take over.
Blair was so fearful of a Livingstone mayoralty that, incredibly, in order for Ken’s name to even appear on the primary ballot, Livingstone had to promise that if (read - when) he lost the nomination he wouldn’t run as an Independent. So, Ken’s name wouldn’t be on the ballot and he’d get chucked out of his party before he’d done anything wrong, before he had even contemplated whether he would run as an independent.
You have to know that Ken had given his life to this party, he’d been a member since school, he’d rallied and knocked on doors in unpopular elections, he’d fought on the streets in bloody battles with the police defending miners rights against the Thatcher regime, he worked internationally with likeminded politicians (picture right) as a vehement critic of apartheid at a time when the Thatcher/Reagan axis of evil opposed any economic sanctions against the regime in South Africa.
Meanwhile Blair and his lawyer buddies were in Oxford, picnicking on the Isis and looking really cool (picture left).Basically, Blair wanted him out of the Labour party.
Having a good feel for the rank and file of the party and without much choice in the matter, in good faith Ken agreed. He was right to have faith in the rank and file, accordingly, during the nomination process, party activists voted overwhelmingly in favor of his candidacy.
But, Blair had no intention of allowing this ‘loose wire’ anywhere near the mayoralty, famously claiming that a Livingstone win ‘would be an absolute disaster for Londoners’, so he turned his attentions to people he could bully -- the sitting MPs and MEPs who would have the final say.
The votes of the 2-300 sitting MPs and MEPs (European Parliament Members) were weighted in such a way that they could ’overrule’ the 70,000 odd Labour Party activists and union members who’d voted for Ken. It was a dirty move and Ken lost the nomination.
This had never happened before, previously the will of the activists would be reflected by their parliamentary representatives (MPs and MEPs). The situation caused outrage and was seen as the first genuine stain Blair‘s previously pristine record. Something he’d also hold Livingstone accountable for.
Because of the manner in which Ken had been deprived there soon developed a burgeoning ground floor movement aimed at convincing Ken to run anyway. After some pushing he reluctantly resigned from the Labour Party and announced he was to run as an independent. His decision was not about ego, it was about a genuine concern for London and its residents, it was about as far from the Leiberman situation as you could get.
Ken had next to no money, anyone seen to be assisting his campaign fell foul of the Blair machine, he was outspent and out muscled by them, and although Blair and his centrist cronies screamed from the roof tops that Ken was breaking his pledge, he still managed to beat off the official Conservative, Liberal and Labour Party candidates to become the first elected mayor of London.
In victory he showed grace, stating he was confident that he’d be campaigning for re-election as a member of the Labour party.
In 2002 his application to have his membership reinstated was refused, only when Blair saw 2003 polling indicating that the unpopular Labour party’s official candidate could end up finishing a humiliating fourth, did they agree to Livingstone being reinstated to the party. They needed Ken a LOT more than he needed them. In 2004, he was re-elected Mayor as the official Labour Party candidate fulfilling his prophecy.
By 2008 Blair’s Labour party had become so unpopular that had he cut them adrift and ran as an independent, he would’ve almost certainly been re-elected, but instead he chose to stay loyal to his party and run as the official Labour candidate carrying all Blair’s political baggage, the very crap he’d so vociferously railed against throughout the 80s and 90s…he lost.
and so ends today’s tedious British political history lesson.
My point is, that was the first time I’d been inspired to vote, I believed in Ken Livingstone, here was a true political maverick, not a fair-weather politician, he showed humility and strength of conviction. I also knew that he needed every vote and that he was relying on disaffected people like me to get him elected, without us he’d have failed. Londoners and the city prospered under his guidance, but all that was a dozen years ago and I’ve not been as enthused about a political candidate since, until Barack Obama crashed into my life late last year.
I see a lot of Livingstone in Obama, not his politics so much as his character and it really appeals to me. Not only that but where Ken could only affect a city, Obama would have real power as leader of the western world.
There are a few obvious benefits of being English; I'm not obese, I don't wear plaid and I can read, but there's one other less obvious one and that is I'm unable to vote this time around. The fact that I am denied the vote has inspired me to look at other ways I can have an impact and has meant I've become far more proactive than I would’ve been. I’m committed to doing all I can to persuade others to help ensure Barack Obama is elected President of the US.
There is no doubt in my mind that Barack Obama has the ability to become one of the greatest presidents in US history, but more than this, I believe he will be a president for all communities on our planet, at a time when the planet desperately needs a leader. Conversely, I believe that should he fail to win in November and another Republican administration is installed, it could spell the end of the US as you and your forefathers knew it. This election is that important.
That your beautiful constitution, a document I’ve grown to appreciate more and more since arriving here, is in such peril, should be reason enough for people to pour into the streets demanding change.
That young Americans, Iraqis and Englishmen are dying in their thousands every year in a pointless war of attrition that should never have been waged in the first place, should be reason enough for people to pour into the streets demanding change.
That we carry the shame of millions of children in this country have to go to school with tooth ache because they cannot afford a visit to the dentist, that their mothers and fathers have to work with headaches, back pains and sprains because they too cannot afford a doctor’s visit, should be reason enough for people to pour into the streets demanding change.
That futures traders and oil companies can report record profits while gasoline hits record prices at the pump, and low income workers lose jobs because they can no longer afford the commute, damning their families to a life of subsistence in a crippled social welfare system, should be reason enough for people to pour into the streets demanding change.
That communities ripped apart by flooding and tornadoes are left to fend for themselves by an uninterested ruling-class who refuse to invest in the country's infrastructure to protect against such tragedies, should be reason enough for people to pour into the streets demanding change.
That filthy corporations controlled by the same ruling-class are given a free reign to tear our planet apart at the seams, in a rabid pursuit of profit, while refusing to provide the most basic, should be reason enough for people to pour into the streets demanding change.
But for me, it’s the rotting image I can see of the world that my son will become a man in and the absolute horror of the world that could await his children, if something radical doesn't happen very soon.
This is the reason I demand change and have committed to do all I can to ensure it.
But Obama has a LOT to live up to, here’s Ken earlier this year:-
I don't need to tell the people here today that George Bush and those he represents did not go to war for humanitarian motives. He went to war to try and secure control of the resources of the people of the Middle East for the United States. He helped send the price of oil to some of the highest levels in history and brought the US down in a bloody quagmire which has discredited his regime not only in the Middle East, but through out the world.Like others I’ve also had to question whether some of Obama's stances are driven by political motivation and whether there’s a politician under all that sugary goodness, but of course there is. There's no way that man could've come out of 20 years of south side Chicago politics and in his first term win the Democratic Party's nomination for president if he wasn't one of the smartest politicians to grace the capitol.
Bush has tried to justify the war by demonising its opponents especially the Muslim communities in every part of the world. That is why it has been so heartening to see the Muslim community standing together with the peace movement in the forefront of this great anti-war movement. This movement represents the real views of the great majority of Londoners and indeed of the entire worlds population.
So I've decided to at least allow him the benefit of doubt. I believe in Barack Obama but I’m not doing this for Barack Obama, I’m doing it for my son and your children.
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