[raises head above parapet]

[alexsarll]

Those of you so consumed with sorrow at Ken's exit - look on the bright side. Maybe now he'll have time to prepare some more of his diaries for publication.
Seriously, though - what exactly is it you're worried about? 'Traditionally Tory' (by which people these days seem to mean Thatcherite) stuff like an increase in London's rich/poor divide, and simmering racial tension? You may not have noticed, but we got all those under the last guy. And all this stuff about Boris being a buffoon, a joke...Ken used to be treated like that (anyone remember all the newt gags?), but then everyone realised it played to his advantage. He can hardly complain now he's finally been out-mavericked.
And before anyone calls me 'a Tory' (and how tiresome is it that in 2008, people still think of politics in terms of tribal party loyalties) - I didn't vote for them in the Assembly (I'm quite upset that even with my contribution, the Greens got no advance on their two seats), I've never voted for them at general or council elections, and I have no intention of doing so next time. I voted for Boris, a man who on many issues (the migrant amnesty and privatisation among them) is to the left not only of his own party, but of the entity still trading as Labour. I voted for him based on his policies - and those are his actual policies, not the Keystone Gestapo version some people seem to be expecting - not his hairstyle. Even if he disappoints me, as he may, as politicians normally do, as Ken certainly did in his second term...well, then he disappoints me, and next time I'll vote for someone else. And some of my friends will vote for him, and some of them won't, and I won't treat it as a cause never to speak to anyone again because that is not the noble tradition of British democracy, that is its nasty factionalist underbelly.

Comments

[beingjdc.livejournal.com]

It beggars belief that given your cynicism in general you could vote for a politician based on 'their actual policies' without looking at the subtext. So what am I worried about - I've said it elsewhere but I'll repeat it.

Affordable homes - Boris uses fine words about 'more affordable homes', but when he says 'quotas are not the answer', he means he's prepared to accept fewer being built. When he says 'local people must decide what is appropriate for their area', he means he'll help posh people oppose planning permission for housing association flats nearby, and when he says he'll 'protect our views' he means London should build upwards, which means using space less efficiently in the centre, which means more sprawling offices which could be redeveloped for housing. His mad idea about building more family houses with gardens and fewer flats hardly endeared him, either.

Transport - The man has flagrantly not got a clue what anything costs. Even insofar as he does, he is committed to things which will cost a lot of money (replacing perfectly functional buses, scrapping the Western congestion charge, not charging people with 4x4s) - what's going to go to pay for those? I would imagine the first steps will be cheap travel for people in need, and so on, and I'm expecting the step after that to be a scaling back of nightbuses, but we'll see. His commitment to a 'no-strike' policy will almost certainly lead to a prolonged RMT strike, but again, that's a wait-and-see.

Social equality - He talked in his acceptance speech about his support in 'the outer boroughs'. We've known all along that this is essentially a fight between the suburbs and the City, which is a proxy class fight. We've got a Mayor who relies for his support on distant commuters who object to the Mayor's spending on inner London (this is not new, it's been a running sore since Ken's 'fair fares' project was injuncted by an outer London Tory Council in the 80s). We have a Mayor who is in the debt not of Hackney, or Southwark, or Lambeth, but of Sutton, and Bromley, and Enfield.

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

yeah, what he said.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

See below, minus the last line.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

- Ken has been fudging quotas on affordable homes too. That's the sort of policy where they were all talking good talk, without it necessarily meaning anything. Which makes it pretty much a null issue in terms of affecting my decisions, and in those cases I go for the non-incumbent, because his bad faith has yet to be proven. As for gardens over shoeboxes...basically a good plan.
(And don't you mean *shouldn't* build upwards, anyway?)

- Again, Ken has already got a proven record of messing up on transport; he promised more conductors and Routemasters, then changed his mind, feeling that "I changed my mind" was all the explanation his subjects deserved.
And I don't think Boris was planning not to charge 4x4s - just not to charge them £25. No?
As for the nightbuses - they were good for a while, but these past couple of years they've been getting worse and worse. Too full to let anyone on, running late so stopping before the end of the line and turning around...another instance where Ken's initial good work seemed to be crumbling.

- He also talked about the whole of London. About wanting to win over the people who didn't vote for him, and repay the trust of the people who hesitated. As against Ken's background in the divisive politics of the old hard Left - I think Michael Gove was dead on re: Ken's tendency to cast some communities as his friends and others as class enemies. Even if it is just the boot being on the other foot, at least it's a change. And just maybe, just maybe it is more than that.

Anyway, I note you're not talking up your first choice...

[beingjdc.livejournal.com]

My first choice was never going to win - given how rare it is that elections are very close at all, voting at the individual is primarily an expressive activity, not an actual power-relationship. In this election that meant a message about what sort of London you want the winner of the Ken/Boris fight to commit to.

There's a big difference between fudging quotas and committing to not having any. See hairyears on this today - and he knows his stuff in this field, possibly more than I do. I believe Boris' commitment is not to charge 4x4s any more than other vehicles, which is nothing in Kensington and Chelsea, and the same as now (probably) in the centre.

As for gardens over shoeboxes...basically a good plan.
(And don't you mean *shouldn't* build upwards, anyway?)

Yes, I do. I'll remind you of this basically good plan when you're trying to save up to move to a house with a garden, because the rent's gone up on your shoebox... my nightbus is still, for the most part, fine. It may turn round before Thamesmead, but I can't exactly blame it.

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

michael gove is a complete cvnt though, i nearly put my foot through the telly last night when he was on. maybe robincarmody has more influence on me than i realised...

i did vote for ken by the way, just to be clear.

and yes, last night i was contemplating posting saying ANYONE WHO VOTED FOR BORIS CAN GET THE EFF OFF MY FRIENDSLIST, but as wrong as i think you were to vote for him, i don't think purges and huffs really solve anything do they?

[surprisetruck.livejournal.com]

Declared interest - voted Sian Berry and Green throughout - Ken second since it was obviously going to the second choices, but also because of his links to New Labour and defences of rather unsatisfactory "advisors".

I was puzzled by the Boris sloganeering of "Change" what with the Conservatives being named for the opposite of change. What I now realise is that this was a call to change back.

My perspective on the transport changes since Ken was voted in is a vast improvement in comfort, number and price. The bendy bus works very well on the route that I travel (Victoria to Paddington) despite being along the congestion zone corridor. The 24 route has also been improved along the section from Pimlico to the West End, because it has changed from three buses for each route in a long line on Whitehall. The section north of Camden seems to still have problems, because we often get late buses cancelled too. TFL changed the provider and this partially improved.

On the £25 congestion charge, I think that was a big mistake, and features what you identified about the divisive politics. However something (school buses) needs to be done about the school run.
I feel his monthly billing suggestion is an improvement too.

Ken has not fudged housing quotas, he's failed to get certain boroughs to comply. Westminster and RBK&C have consistently undermined the desired quota - famously Westminster used to deal with builders to have their affordable quota outside of Westminster, they are much better but new projects still seem to half a dozen single bedroom places.

Crime ?
It's his major appeal apparently.
In most of the areas that supported Boris crime is below the national average.
In the areas that favoured Ken, crime is above the national average.
Overall in the UK, crime figures are stable or increasing slightly, whereas fear of crime is increasing significantly more. There was some talk about a link between immigration and crime, and Boris did not do too well at distancing himself from that on the TV panel I saw. It's fairly clear that the BNP provided 50% of his majority, but he'd still have won. I actually don't think Boris is that kind of politician so I hope he does something to address his image when it comes to racism.
If he can deliver his promise to cut through the red tape that police (and then perhaps doctors, social workers and nurses) have to contend with then he'll do more (for less money) than his suggestion of new police staff.

And his advisors look set to be more accountable and more diverse than Ken's.

[p-dan-tic.livejournal.com]

it is a bad day, when I agree with everything you say

I suppose you are the enemy of my enemy though (boris not barry)

[guntrip.livejournal.com]

"We've known all along that this is essentially a fight between the suburbs and the City"

Which is why I'll take great delight when I start spotting letters complaining about the hikes in tube fares that are going to have to happen to pay for conductors and new buses. Think your zone 1-6 travel card is expensive now? Tee hee.

[beingjdc.livejournal.com]

That jeopardises re-election. Much easier to scrap the free travel pensioners get, or unemployed people going to job interviews, or teenagers going to college.

[dickon-edwards.livejournal.com]

I'll be positive about this. Good for you for voting Green on the peach sheet!

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

And the whichever-colour-the-other-one-was-I-forget sheet, for all the good that was going to do.

[misssuzil.livejournal.com]

Finally, a post on Lj i can read this morning without feeling I am being shouted at.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

I'm glad it comes across that way. I don't want to be shouting at anyone, really. Well, maybe a quick 'CALM DOWN!', but then the quiet and measured explanation.

[darkmarcpi.livejournal.com]

It's a bit disconcerting that the BNP nearly got as many first ticks as the Greens.

But I was pleased that the Left Listers - in spite of all their frenzied campaigning - got absolutely fvck all votes.

Anyway, broadly agree with you. I did not vote for Bojo and have my concerns but will wait and see what happens before judging him. Also, I got a Facebook group request to join a group "Remove Me From Your Friend List If You're Voting For Boris" and I did think about setting up one in response: "Oh for fvck's sake...remove Me From Your Friend List If You're sending invitations like that".

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly. For BNP and Respect votes, that sort of behaviour is maybe justified, but when it's applied to any dissent from a presumed centre-left consensus, and even that is based largely in stereotypes and ignorance of real policies, it's deeply distasteful.

[moleintheground.livejournal.com]

My anger at people voting Conservative comes from the fact that they were stunningly awful at government in my entire living memory and that the central conservative ideals are selfish and weighted towards the wealthy minority. I find it baffling that anyone can put an 'x' next to them. Had Boris run as an independent, as Ken did in 2000, I would understand it better. But he has run as a Conservative, for the Conservatives.

I understand my ostensibly liberal-leftist peers not wanting Ken, but switching to the right, as though that's the only alternative? Baffling. (Also the problem with the f*cking two party system.)

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

The Conservatives existed before that government, though. Looked at in the long term, you can easily make a case that Thatcherism was a perversion and an anomaly, just as surely as the shower currently in government are a long way from Labour's nobler traditions.
And Boris, I think, owes more than a little to that earlier conservatism; he has more in common with Disraeli than Tebbit. On things like privatisation, he's pretty damning of Thatcher and especially of Major - as against modern Labour, who have mostly taken them as a blueprint.

[my-name-is-anna.livejournal.com]

That's exactly how I feel about it too.

[angelv.livejournal.com]

I don't want to lose friends over these elections. I just feel dismayed about the direction the country is going in. I think that you've been positive and coherent and undefensive about your choice for mayor and I don't have any issue with it. On the other hand I am really upset that we have a Conservative mayor because I think it speaks badly to the world of London and I don't believe that a man is separate from the party he represents. I also have a positive view and a positive experiece of Ken and didn't want to lose him as mayor.

More than anything, what has upset me is - and this isn't in reference to you - the people I thought I had things in common with, it turns out I don't, and they're and defensive and angry about being called on it. I spent the last 10+ years putting myself in a social group with people I thought were like minded and now I'm reevaluating that. We all became friends because we were part of an alternative scene and I took for granted that part of the nature of the scene was its left wing politics. I suppose the positive thing about these past few weeks is that I've been forced not to take this for granted and to think politically, properly, for the first time. But it has made me feel really sad.

I hope Boris is a good mayor.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

What you've run into there, I think, is partly down to the oft-observed phenomenon of people getting more rightwing with age (which I think may have something to do with house ownership, because if anything I find myself going left economically), and partly the problem with the modern Left which people like Nick Cohen and the Euston Manifesto crowd have picked up on. To wit, the Left has got so hung up on being anti-American as its first commandment that it ends up campaigning alongside people who by any reasonable standards are the far Right, and ignoring that because they're not white so they must be leftwing, right?
And when you see that - Ken inviting people to tea who would like to kill people like us...well, where does that leave the alternative scene, politically? Not necessarily with Boris, sure - but as far as I'm concerned, certainly not with Ken.

"I don't believe that a man is separate from the party he represents" - this interests me. See above comment to Ed re: the wider history of the conservatives, but also - I liked Ken's first term, when he was an independent, and have been massively disappointed by his second, as part of what Labour's become. So you might be on to something...

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Oh, and also - thank you.

[how-i-lie.livejournal.com]

Thank you, this post is excellent.

[publicansdecoy.livejournal.com]

I am astounded and quite disappointed by the amount of intolerance that some people have shown towards anybody who dares to vote differently from them. I don't think this shoudl be a friendship breaker.

-x-

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Fortunately, I am finding people a lot more reasonable in person than one might expect from some online content.