Ken Livingstone news stories on Newser

Former London Mayor Will Advise Chávez

Jason Farago — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:08:00 CDT

Ken Livingstone, London's mayor from 2000 until his election defeat this May, has found a new job: consultant to Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez. "Red Ken," who has long been a supporter of the socialist president, will advise pro-government mayors on urban planning, reports the BBC. Last year Livingstone cut an...

'Buffoon' Boris Takes London's Mayor Race

Rob Quinn — Sat, 03 May 2008 05:08:00 CDT

Self-described "buffoon" Boris Johnson won a hard-fought race last night to become mayor of London, the Guardian reports, dealing British PM Gordon Brown's party a stunning loss in his first election test. Johnson unseated Labour incumbent Ken Livingstone 53% to 47% after a 15-hour count that ended with a conservative...

Brown, Labor Savaged in UK Elections

Jason Farago — Fri, 02 May 2008 05:43:38 CDT

Labor has suffered its worst showing in 40 years in local elections across England and Wales. Just one year after Gordon Brown became prime minister, his party pulled only 24% of the projected national vote, 20 points behind the Tories and behind even the third-party Liberal Democrats. As for the...

Down in Polls, Brown Admits 'Mistakes'

Nick McMaster — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:25:49 CDT

With polls predicting big losses for his Labour party in tomorrow’s local elections, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown admitted he’d made mistakes in the past six months, Reuters reports. Chiefly, Brown acknowledged increasing the tax burden on the lowest-paid workers and those aged 60-64, but said both problems were currently...

Labour Will Lose London, Final Poll Says

Jason Farago — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:21:07 CDT

With 48 hours to go before the election, a final poll gives Boris Johnson a 10-point edge in the race for mayor of London. The shambolic Tory is poised to romp to victory over incumbent Ken Livingstone Thursday, according to the pollster YouGov. The finding is completely at odds with...

Blair Weighs In on London's Neck-and-Neck Mayoral Race

Jason Farago — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:54:50 CDT

With one week to go, the two main candidates in the race for mayor of London—maverick Labour incumbent Ken Livingstone and clownish Tory Boris Johnson—remain neck-and-neck. As the Labour Party realizes that it could lose the most important elected office in Britain, the Guardian reveals that Livingstone is...

Brits 'Duped' Over Olympic Pricetag

Rob Quinn — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:00:00 CDT

The projected pricetag of the 2012 Olympic games in London has more than doubled to $18 billion since the city was picked as host three years ago—and the British government is being accused of deliberately low-balling estimates to sell the event to the public, the Guardian reports. A public...

Gas-Guzzlers Will Cost Londoners $50 a Day

Matt Cantor — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:39:03 CDT

In a move to make drivers of gas-guzzlers “pay for the environmental damage they cause,” London’s mayor is imposing a CO2 charge: beginning in October, every private vehicle driven in the central city that doesn’t meet tough emissions standards will cost its owners $50 a day, the Los Angeles Times...

'Buffoon' Leads Incumbent in Race for London Mayor

Jason Farago — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 10:11:00 CDT

The two leading candidates for mayor of London, Britain's most important elected office, are locked in a neck-and-neck race, according to a new Guardian poll. Ken Livingstone, the fiery Labour incumbent and sworn enemy of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, is now running just behind the Conservative challenger: MP Boris...