I voted for him first time round. I'll vote for him this year too.
Of course, because he's the official NuLabor candidate, it does mean i'll leave the polling booth feeling slightly soiled. But i'm not going to cut my nose off to spite my face; he's still one of the very few people in modern politics for whom i have even a smidgin of respect.
I don't agree with him on every single issue obviously... but then; i don't agree with my closest friends on every single issue, so i'm not sure how relevant that is. More important is his stance on a handful of - for me -crucial issues.
He has proven himself to have consistently sensible transport policies (the bus service has been considerably improved; the congestion charge is a success; he fought tube privatisation to the best of his abilities and having being beaten in the courts has now dedicated himself to ensuring that it is implemented as safely as possible). We have a recycling collection in our area thanks to him. There are more cycle lanes.
He was a speaker at the various London anti-war demos; he's criticised The Met for exercising anti-terrorist powers against peace protesters; he's decribed Dubya Bush as the greatest threat to life on the planet and held a reception for "Everyone who is not George Bush" during the recent State Visit.
Does anyone honestly believe that he will now keep his mouth shut on these issues? Or that he'll suddenly change his opinions because he's rejoined The Party? I don't. Though of course i could be wrong on that.
I voted for him last time so that the CC would be introduced, because he promised to fight tube privatisation, and because he actually seems to give a damn about London and the concerns of those who live here. I long ago gave up on party politics, so i'm voting for Ken Livingstone, the man - not NuLabor... and as much as i'd like Ken to give up on party politics too, there's nobody else running who i'd trust with the job.
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