Results tagged “Ken Livingstone”

By Jim Fitzpatrick

The biggest political contest will take place in London between Boris and Ken for the Mayoralty of this great City this year.

Both David Cameron and more so Ed Miliband are nailing their colours to the masts of their respective candidates but Ed must have more to lose if Ken Livingstone doesn't pull it off.

The Jubilee line is getting worse and passengers should be told when the programme of upgrade works on the troubled line will finish.

That's the view of independent watchdog London Travelwatch, after services on the line failed last night and this morning to leave thousands of passengers stranded.

Perched on a seat on the Jubilee line to Canary Wharf, Ken Livingstone is getting some early hits in on his old foe Boris Johnson.

Ken remains one of the most powerful and controversial politicians in London, despite not holding office for more than two years but he aims to change all that as he prepares for his fourth mayoral fight in 16 months' time.

The new year got off to an expensive start for commuters as those heading back to work faced transport fare rises of up to 13 per cent.

The latest above-inflation fare hikes, which came into effect on January 2, will see passengers feeling the pinch with Tube, DLR and Overground, peak-time journeys in zone 1 rising from £1.80 to £1.90 and for zones 1 to 3from £2.70 to £2.90.

Workers at Billingsgate Fish Market staged a demonstration on Tuesday as part of a protest against planned changes they believe will destroy its reputation.

Market porters are trying to protect their historic role and were backed by MP Jim Fitzpatrick, whose Poplar & Limehouse constituency includes Billingsgate, along with London Assembly member John Biggs and ex-London Mayor Ken Livingstone.

Tory leader David Cameron praised the University of East London when he visited its Docklands campus this week.

Cameron was speaking to students, staff and reporters at the event over a range of issues, including MPs expenses and his future plans, as well as a vision for a "new form of politics".

When Kevin Murphy decided to leave his comfortable job at media firm Emap for Excel many of his friends thought he was mad.

In heavy debt and in danger of becoming east London's very own white elephant, the exhibition centre was struggling.

By John Biggs

The suburbs are a distinctive part of London.

Defined by endless streets of inter-war semis, they are more complicated than that stereotype.

The schools tend to be good, the streets feel safer, the houses are nicer and (used to be) affordable.

Ken Livingstone believes East London boroughs are "bearing the brunt" of Boris Johnson's affordable housing targets for the capital.

The former Mayor believes his successor's more "collaborative" approach has allowed some boroughs to push for lower requirements, leaving others to "fill the gap".

By Andrew Williams

Hopefully by now the worst of the festive excesses will be just a distant memory.

By now we should all be focused on the great opportunities for the year ahead.

FOR ISLAND voters, the first fruits of their labours trickled in at around noon with the election of a new Millwall councillor.

The Wharf chased the action from Royal Docks to Tower Bridge as Ken Livingstone's eight-year reign as Mayor came to an end.

Boris takes City Hall

By the time City and East had officially thrown its weight behind Labour at around 10pm, the capital's media were already confidently predicting victory for the Conservative candidate Boris Johnson.

Many betting firms started paying out on the blue challenger before 10am on Friday (May 2), suggesting a rout may be on the cards for two-term Mayor Ken Livingstone.

Labour's candidate actually finished with a far higher total number of votes than he managed in his comfortable 2004 victory. But the presence of a well-known contender not only denied him a third term in office, but attracted the highest voter turnout among Londoners since the mayoral post was created in 2000.

Fore more Wharf election analysis, follow our reports on the Millwall by-election, City and East assembly battle and the struggle for the post of Mayor via the links.

CONSERVATIVE torch-bearer Boris Johnson has won the battle for the title of Mayor of London.

The Tory hopeful ended incumbent Ken Livingstone's eight-year reign in City Hall in a two-horse race that inspired more than two million Londoners to the polling booths.

The clash of personalities attracted a turnout of 2.4million voters, amounting to 45 per cent of the 5.4million electorate. This represented a 20 per cent rise on 2004, in which a total of 1.9million voters made the trip to the polls.

Labour's John Biggs retained his City and East seat on the London Assembly earlier in the evening, with nearly twice as many votes as Conservative challenger Phil Briscoe.

GORDON Brown had reassuring words for Canary Wharf workers when he arrived at the financial centre.

The Prime Minister was at the East Wintergarden to promote Ken Livingstone’s mayoral election campaign.
His visit coincided with jobs uncertainty at Bear Stearns and the ongoing threat of global recession. But the Prime Minister told The Wharf that maintaining high employment in the area is at the top of his agenda.

With just over a month to go until the London mayor election, we invited the main candidates to tell us what they would do to tackle the issues affecting Canary Wharf and Docklands.

The Mayor, with the Greater London Authority, has control of some of the key aspects of London life, including transport, planning and culture. Ken Livingstone had his say when he visited Canary Wharf with the Prime Minister last Thursday (March 20) – see here – so we asked Conservative candidate Boris Johnson and the Lib Dem’s Brian Paddick what they will do for Wharfers. Questions from Simon Hayes

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, took time out from his re-election campaign to officially unveil the new-look Docklands Light Railway trains.

Mr Livingstone was joined at West India Quay station this morning (Thursday, March 13) by Olympic athlete Dean Macey and officials from the Olympic Delivery Authority, including chief executive John Armitt. The new trains will form a key component of the 2012 Olympic transport infrastructure.

The carriages will start to be introduced from next month alongside existing two-carriage DLR rolling stock. Three carriage trains will be operational once platform extensions across the network are completed in 2012.

Mr Livingstone said: "These carriages will lead to an increase of 50 per cent capacity of the DLR and provide much more attractive modern trains.

"It's just such an improvement on the others, it makes them look a bit tacky now. It won't be long before we think of refurbishing the existing ones as these come into use."

simon.hayes@wharf.co.uk