Published: June 25th 2010 - at 8:50 am

Ken and Oona battle for London Labour support


by Newswire    

The Leader of Labour’s London Assembly members, Len Duvall AM, has backed Ken Livingstone as the best candidate to take on Boris in the 2012 Mayoral election.

Len Duvall is also the Chair of the Greater London Labour Party.

His endorsement of Ken Livingstone means six of the eight members of the London Assembly Labour Group have now declared their backing for Ken.

He said today:

Ken has secured support across the political spectrum and shows through his overwhelming backing from London Labour Assembly Members that he knows and understands London government.

Ken has focused his fire on Boris Johnson. Labour needs a candidate who really understands the role of the Mayor, is a tough negotiator and who will stand up for London.

Ken’s supporters now stand at 7 MPs (including Chuka Umunna and Jon Cruddas), 41 Councillors and 1 MEP.

But Oona King is doing better in MP endorsements across London.

She has the support of 12 London Labour MPs, including Stella Creasy, Rushanara Ali and Stephen Timms.

This week she also announced the backing of Labour stalwart Neil Kinnock and former cabinet minister Ben Bradshaw.

Yesterday the two main candidates were interviewed on the Today programme.

Listen below (made available by Adam Bienkov, who has more)

Boris was also forced to delay his re-election bid yesterday after it emerged that the £75,000 event would have to be paid by taxpayers.

Lawyers said that such a taxpayer funded event could not be used for political purposes.


---------------------------
    Share on Tumblr  


About the author

· Other posts by


Story Filed Under: News


Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.


Reader comments


I had breakfast with KL yesterday.
Well, me and about 30 other people.
He has a Blair tan (visiting Chavez perhaps?) and a surpirsingly large beer belly.
His speech, which was supposed to be about London architecture and planning, was a poor hustings speech instead.
Actually surprisingly poor.
Though good to know that he still loves the City, and resents London’s £20bn sub to the rest of the country.

Really ? Ken has a tan and a beer belly ?

Well, I’m going to vote for the blairite warmonger then.

Sheesh.

Seriously, Oona King’s smear campaign is getting pretty revolting.

Imagine what would happen if somebody attacked her for her sex and colour in the way that she’s attacking Ken for his age and appearance.

Don’t worry, it’s a regular thing for cjcjc. I wouldn’t take him seriously… I never do

4. Finisterre

Well, exactly, PDF – who gives a toss about what they’ll do for London, eh!? Sneering at politicians’ appearances is the new heavyweight political thought, doncha know?

More seriously, do you have any links re Oona/these smears? I’d like to read more about her policies and tactics. I would like to be able to support a female and ethnic minority candidate, but there’s no way I would vote for a Blairite over the tried-and-tested, imperfect-but-bloody-good Ken.

Finisterre,

Libel law being what it is, Oona King’s apologies tend to be reprinted more than her initial lies. Still, these apologies have left a pretty clear set of footprints.

Check out this classic, for example.

“I accept that you have never been implicated in sexually improper behaviour towards women, neither have you used, or been accused of using charitable funds to pay for sex with prostitutes in expensive hotels.”

7. Rhys Williams

cjcjc
Journalist or architect or just one of those people who turn up to events ( the UK’s version to Zelig).


Reactions: Twitter, blogs
  1. Liberal Conspiracy

    Ken and Oona battle for London Labour support http://bit.ly/d3Fihw

  2. Milena Buyum

    Ken is getting it and oona not! RT @libcon: Ken and Oona battle for London Labour support http://bit.ly/d3Fihw #yesweken #ken4london





Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.

 
Liberal Conspiracy is the UK's most popular left-of-centre politics blog. Our aim is to re-vitalise the liberal-left through discussion and action. More about us here.

You can read articles through the front page, via Twitter or RSS feed. You can also get them by email and through our Facebook group.
LATEST COMMENT PIECES
» Criticism of Obama for its own sake: a reply to Mehdi Hasan
» Do older people really need more NHS healthcare?
» There are alternatives to the reckless ‘Plan A’
» On Beecroft: it is already quite easy to sack people
» Why Cameron’s claim of 600,000 jobs created is plainly wrong
» By using age to allocate NHS funding, Lansley rewards Tory voters
» The rise in domestic violence deaths is not an “isolated” problem
» Adrian Beecroft highlights mindset of Tory right
» The US is now a model for the Eurozone to save itself
» The IMF plan to revive the economy doesn’t go far enough
» The Boris brand is weaker than his friends think
» Nine things you can do to halt Lansley’s destruction of our NHS






28 Comments



72 Comments



21 Comments



48 Comments



10 Comments



24 Comments



22 Comments



69 Comments



44 Comments



25 Comments



LATEST COMMENTS
» So Much For Subtlety posted on Criticism of Obama for its own sake: a reply to Mehdi Hasan

» Jack C posted on Red Tory Blond: gay marriage "homophobic"

» bluepillnation posted on The Boris brand is weaker than his friends think

» P Ve M posted on Red Tory Blond: gay marriage "homophobic"

» Ben2 posted on '43% of young women sexually harassed'

» So Much For Subtlety posted on '43% of young women sexually harassed'

» So Much For Subtlety posted on '43% of young women sexually harassed'

» BenSix posted on '43% of young women sexually harassed'

» So Much For Subtlety posted on How Newsnight demonised a single mother

» Ben2 posted on '43% of young women sexually harassed'

» So Much For Subtlety posted on The rise in domestic violence deaths is not an "isolated" problem

» Ben2 posted on '43% of young women sexually harassed'

» So Much For Subtlety posted on Do older people really need more NHS healthcare?

» BenSix posted on '43% of young women sexually harassed'

» So Much For Subtlety posted on Do older people really need more NHS healthcare?