Who's your favorite to win ?

[Spartacus]

BBC News - London mayoral race 2021: The candidates who say they will be standing

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55748037

It's gotta be binface.

[DulwichFox]

Do away with the post .. Too costly..

The Mayor's salary is ?152,734. per year

The salary of an Assembly Member is currently ? 58,543. per year

except for the Statutory Deputy Mayor which is ?105,269. per year

and the Chair of the Assembly which is ? 70,225. per year

1 Ken Livingstone 4 May 2008

2 Boris Johnson 9 May 2016

3 Sadiq Khan Incumbent

None of them have done anything of benefit.

Foxy

[TheCat]

That Brian Rose chap looks like a cartoon version of what most people think a banker looks like....

All he needs is a monacle and a fob watch to complete the picture....

[SpringTime]

Which one is binface?

[Spartacus]

SpringTime Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Which one is binface?

Count binface has a bin on his head

Fairly easy to spot in a crowd of other losers TBH

[SpringTime]

Sorry Spart, but they all look the same.

[Spartacus]

SpringTime Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Sorry Spart, but they all look the same.

LOL

You're not wrong , which is a telling statement about our politicians

They are all the same and have the same basic personality traits otherwise they wouldn't be politicians nor would they be have ambitions to get on top.

I often wonder if politicians and top business people have the same traits, ruthless, ambition and willing to step on the people below them to get to the top.

[SpringTime]

Come now, I bet you're one to get on top now and again. I mean, you are Spartacus after all. We all are!

Anyway I will have a closer look, and voting and electoral unravelling can be fun and exciting.

I'd have a pint with Khan but I'm yet to see him being as precise and punchy as he should be - unless I've not been properly watching. His appraisal of TFL funding vs. Paris Metro funding for example, was sharp enough - this was when he was pitching for more cash when the govt. was saying no - but he needed to be more forceful in making the message bigger. It was a good message. (And of course it wasn't really just a London centric/TFL issue, rather more of the same symptoms across the country.)

[Spartacus]

I'd have a pint with them all, listen to what they say and make a decision on what's best for London and Conversely for myself

Then I'd still want Count BinFace (but not necessarily Vote for) to win as the whole concept of a London assembly and mayor is an expensive bureaucratic model and funds supporting it could be better deployed.

[Nigello]

It's a mishmash of a job which has insufficient powers and importance and the ones in the other big cities are an unnecessary layer of politics and politicians again because their powers are limited or are already there at borough/city leve. I vote in all elections but this one I may give a miss on. (If the LM was granted greater powers I would likely vote but at the moment I just see grandstanding and an extra way of opposing the Westminster government.)

[peckman]

Love the fact that UKIP candidate is called Peter Gammons !

[SpringTime]

I've been trying to find a hook from one of them to reel me in. There isn't much bait to my taste so far. Has anyone bitten on anything juicy yet?

[JohnL]

London needs some form of devolution ... bring back the GLC :)

Sometimes Khan seems knocked back by all the Anti-Khan people - yet he's still popular in London - He got excluded from COBR for leaking apparently maybe that was pretty upsetting. He hasn't the narcissism of previous Mayors.

https://www.itv.com/news/london/2020-07-14/petty-party-politics-london-mayor-sadiq-khan-frozen-out-of-government-cobra-meetings-for-more-than-two-months

[Spartacus]

JohnL Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> London needs some form of devolution ... bring

> back the GLC :)

>

Oh lord yes bring back Red Ken from the 80s

We might end up with the old design routemasters coming back.

[SpringTime]

Those routemasters were great. I'm gonna see if any candidates are for reinstating.

[Townleygreen]

I fancy Luisa for my vote

[malumbu]

Routemasters? - a popular myth. They were out of date by the time they were launched, had to have their wheelbase stretched and the operating model was based on designing, building and maintaining your own fleet. There are rose tinted spectacles when many think about this as a golden age, where other bus operators did similar, and there was a great I-Spy on buses and coaches. https://autoshite.com/topic/9170-i-spy-book-of-buses-coaches-1967/ British bus builders were probably very innovative for their time but economies of scale came along with more standard designs for fleets across the country.

They were introduced at a time when most buses had shifted to single person operation, conductor added to the operating costs. They were being phased out in the early 70s but think their great reliability kept them in service, with new engines, for another 30 odd years.

Of course most have fond memories.

Whilst we mainly think of Livingstone for his wrong doings and lack of humility, he played a blinder on the Oyster card and increasing bus use. That said he came in with the ticket of reducing fares (as cheap as 50p) and reintroducing conductors. But he left a legacy of a far more joined up service.

[SpringTime]

Precisely, malumbu. Agree 100% with you. But my specs are still firmly mounted. Despite their obvious inefficiencies they were still a treat, and I used to like being told off (whilst jumping off) by the conductor for bus-hopping. Money-wise they couldn't even make up half of their running costs but they were so fun. Can you imagine trying to run a system like that today?

Ding ding!!

[malumbu]

As said fond memories, jumping on and off, swinging from the grab rail, getting a tow on a bike. The new ones are a silly indulgence.

[DuncanW]

I see Lawrence Fox has enetered the race, funded by a ?5M donation from CPFC shareholder, Jeremy Hosking.

As a Palace fan, I think his money might be better spent on a new right-back, but each to their own.

[Spartacus]

According to the BBC

"Mr Fox - who is leader of the Reclaim Party - said if elected he would lift lockdown the day after the elections are held on 6 May"

That will appeal to the Sunday Sport readers

😱

[DuncanW]

Regardless of your standpoint on the lockdown issue, this is just nonsense.

According to the roadmap, most restrictions will be lifted by then anyway, with a full return to normal scheduled for mid June.

But more critically, the Mayor of London doesn?t have the power to lift the restrictions anyway.

[Jules-and-Boo]

We need a Non Tory Mayor. God forbid the Tories have a monopoly on London

[????]

Interesting all those who?d say they?d have a pint with Khan as he doesn?t drink. He?s useless but then so are all the others as far as I can see.

[DuncanW]

Who is it that wants to have a pint with him?