London mayoral election, 2008

Infobox Election
election_name = London mayoral election, 2008
country = Greater London
type = presidential
ongoing = no
previous_election = London mayoral election, 2004
previous_year = 2004
next_election = London mayoral election, 2012
next_year = 2012
election_date = 1 May 2008

1blank = First preference
2blank = Popular vote
4blank = Second preference [ includes if the preference was give to one of the first two candidates]
5blank = Popular vote

candidate1 = Boris Johnson
party1 = Conservative Party (UK)
last_election1 =
swing1 =
popular_vote1 = 1,168,738
percentage1 =
2data1 = 1,043,761
3data1 =
5data1 = 257,792
6data1 =

candidate2 = Ken
Livingstone
party2 = Labour Party (UK)
last_election2 =
swing2 =
popular_vote2 = 1,028,966
percentage2 =
2data2 = 893,877
3data2 =
5data2 = 303,198
6data2 =

candidate3 = Brian
Paddick
party3 = Liberal Democrats
last_election3 =
popular_vote3 =Not in final round
percentage3 =Not in final round
swing3 =
2data3 = 236,685
3data3 =
5data3 = 641,412
6data3 =

map_

candidate1 = Boris Johnson
party1 = Conservative Party (UK)
last_election1 =
swing1 =
popular_vote1 = 1,168,738
percentage1 =
2data1 = 1,043,761
3data1 =
5data1 = 257,792
6data1 =

candidate2 = Ken
Livingstone
party2 = Labour Party (UK)
last_election2 =
swing2 =
popular_vote2 = 1,028,966
percentage2 =
2data2 = 893,877
3data2 =
5data2 = 303,198
6data2 =

candidate3 = Brian
Paddick
party3 = Liberal Democrats
last_election3 =
popular_vote3 =Not in final round
percentage3 =Not in final round
swing3 =
2data3 = 236,685
3data3 =
5data3 = 641,412
6data3 =

map_

---

map_size = 250px
map_caption = The results of the elction. Blue boroughs represent those won by Boris Johnson and red boroughs represent those won by Ken Livingston

title = Mayor
before_election = Ken Livingstone
before_party = Labour Party (UK)
after_election = Boris Johnson
after_party = Conservative Party (UK)The London mayoral election, 2008 for the office of Mayor of London was held on 1 May, 2008 and was won by Conservative Party candidate Boris Johnson. [ [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aY45pSlwFQYI&refer=home Johnson Wins London Mayor Race in Body Blow to Brown] ] It was the third London mayoral election, the previous elections being the first election in May 2000 and the second election in June 2004.

Boris Johnson became only the second Mayor of London and the first Conservative to hold the office since its creation in 2000.

Results

Candidate selection process

Labour Party

On 3 May 2007 the Labour Party announced Ken Livingstone, the incumbent mayor, had been selected as their mayoral candidate. The announcement was made following consultations with London Labour Party members. [cite web |url=http://www.mayorwatch.co.uk/news.php?slug=Livingstone-Confirmed-as-Labour-Candidate&article_id=664 |title=Livingstone Confirmed as Labour Candidate |publisher=MayorWatch]

Conservative Party

On 27 September 2007, Boris Johnson was announced as the Conservative candidate, having received 75% of the vote in an election open to the entire London electorate. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7014739.stm |title=Johnson is Tory Mayor Candidate |publisher=BBC News]

The primary election was originally to be held in in October 2006. The candidates who applied by the 4 August deadline were Richard Barnes, London Assembly member for Ealing and Hillingdon, who withdrew in July 2007 and announced his support for Boris Johnson; [cite web |url=http://conservativehome.blogs.com/londonmayor/2007/07/richard-barnes-.html |title=Richard Barnes pulls out and backs Boris |publisher=ConservativeHome LondonMayor Blog] Andrew Boff, former Hillingdon and Hackney councillor; Nicholas Boles, Policy Exchange think-tank director, who withdrew in July 2007 for health reasons; Victoria Borwick, Kensington and Chelsea councillor; Warwick Lightfoot, also a Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea councillor; and Lee Rotherham. Steven Norris, Conservative mayoral candidate in 2000 and 2004, ruled himself out. [cite web |url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/conservatives/story/0,,1837155,00.html |publisher=GuardianOnline |title=Norris opts out of Tory primary contest for London mayor] Broadcaster Nick Ferrari also ruled himself out, having considered seeking the nomination. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5239332.stm |title=Ferrari Will Not Be Tories' Mayor |publisher=BBC News]

Come the 4 August 2006 deadline, however, Conservative Party Chairman Francis Maude announced the process was being delayed for six months to allow time for further candidates to submit applications. [cite web |url=http://www.mayorwatch.co.uk/news.php?slug=conservatives-delay-mayoral-selection&article_id=370 |title=Conservatives Delay Mayoral Selection Deadline |publisher=MayorWatch] [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5245928.stm |title=Tories delay London mayoral race |publisher=BBC News] Prospective applicants who subsequently publicly declared were Lurline Champagnie, a London Borough of Harrow councillor; Winston McKenzie, a former boxer; [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6123722.stm |title=Mayoral fight for boxer's brother |publisher=BBC News] ; and disc jockey Mike Read. [cite web |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=425963&in_page_id=1770 |title=DJ Read joins 'X factor-style' Mayor race |publisher=Daily Mail] Reid withdrew in July 2007 following a change in the voting system for Conservative candidates, giving his support to Johnson. [cite web |url=http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/mike_read/2007/07/im_backing_boris.html |title=I'm Backing Boris |publisher=Comment is Free (Guardian Online)]

In April 2007 the Conservative party confirmed it had approached former Director-General of the BBC Greg Dyke. Dyke stated he would not stand except on a joint ticket with the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats stated this would be against its party's constitution. [cite web |url=http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,2060306,00.html |title=How the 'Greg Dyke for London mayor' story snowballed |publisher=The Guardian Online] Around this point former Conservative Prime Minister Sir John Major was considered a possible candidate, but he turned down an offer from David Cameron. [cite web|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1717355.ece|title=Cameron snubbed again as Major rules out mayor race|date=28 April 2007|work=The Times|accessdate=2008-05-03]

Following media and members' criticism over the party's selection procedure, [cite web |url=http://iaindale.blogspot.com/2007/04/fallout-from-london-nightmayor.html |title=Fallout From the London Nightmayor |Iain Dale's Diary] [cite web |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/people/pandora/article2465964.ece |title=Tories at war over Cameron's failed bid to get Greg |publisher=The Independent Online] the party chairman announced a revised timetable requiring a candidate to be in place before the party conference at the end of September 2007. [cite web |url=http://conservativehome.blogs.com/londonmayor/2007/04/conservative_ca.html |title=Conservative candidate to be announced at Party conference |publisher=ConservativeHome LondonMayor Blog] In June 2007, the party published a detailed timetable confirming that the result of the selection process would be announced at 10 a.m. on 27 September 2007. [cite web |url=http://conservativehome.blogs.com/londonmayor/2007/06/mayoral_selecti.html |title=Mayoral Selection Timetable |publisher=ConservativeHome LondonMayor Blog]

On 16 July, shortly before the noon deadline for nominations, Johnson confirmed he would seek the Tory nomination. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6900326.stm |title=Boris Johnson standing for mayor |publisher=BBC News] A final four of Johnson, Boff, Borwick and Lightfoot were chosen on 21 July for the primary election, [cite web |url=http://www.mayorwatch.co.uk/news.php?slug=Tories-Select-Mayoral-Shortlist&article_id=732 |title=Tories Select Mayoral Shortlist |publisher=MayorWatch] which Johnson won.

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrat candidate was former police chief Brian Paddick. The party drew up a shortlist in September 2007 with a final choice made by a one member, one vote ballot of party members. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6926020.stm |title=Opik 'won't run for London mayor' |publisher=BBC News] Simon Hughes, the party's 2004 mayoral candidate, did not stand. [cite web |url=http://www.mayorwatch.co.uk/news.php?slug=simon-hughes-cameron-reforms-failing&article_id=377 |title=Hughes Claims Cameron Reforms 'Are Failing' |publisher=MayorWatch] On 13 November 2007 it was announced Paddick had been selected from the shortlist, defeating Chamali Fernando and Councillor Fiyaz Mughal.

Green Party

On 12 March 2007 the party announced that it had selected Siân Berry as its mayoral candidate in a ballot of its London members, receiving 45% of the vote. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6441519.stm |title=Berry is Green mayoral candidate |publisher=BBC News] The other candidates were Shahrar Ali, Shane Collins, Katie Dawson and Terry McGrenera. Berry is also one of their Assembly candidates. [cite web |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/200703120058 |title=The Next Mayor of London |publisher=New Statesman]

UK Independence Party

At the UK Independence Party (UKIP) 2007 party conference, Gerard Batten who is the UKIP MEP for the London region was selected to contest the London Mayoral Election.

In October 2006, UKIP announced that talkSPORT presenter James Whale might stand against Ken Livingstone in the 2008 election. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6081762.stm |title=Radio host 'could challenge Ken' |publisher=BBC News] The government's media authority Ofcom told Whale that becoming Mayor would prevent him from continuing his radio show. Whale subsequently stated on his programme he would not be the UKIP candidate, but he did not rule out standing for election. [cite web |url=http://www.democracyforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=35374 |title=Whale again rules out being UKIP London Mayor candidate |publisher=Democracy]

Winston McKenzie

In December 2007 former boxer Winston McKenzie told the BBC that he intended to stand for Mayor of London as an independent on an anti-gang crime platform, having failed to secure the Conservative nomination earlier in the year. [cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2007/12/05/croydon_mayoral_bid_feature.shtml |title=‘I’ll knock out the opposition’ |publisher=BBC News]

The Left List

Following a split in the RESPECT Party at the end of 2007, the George Galloway-led faction (also referred to as Respect Renewal) retained the rights to the use of the name in elections, as Linda Smith was registered as party leader with the Electoral Commission (United Kingdom). The Socialist Workers Party dominated faction put forward Lindsey German under the Left List banner. Galloway's faction did not put forward a candidate, but Galloway declared his support for Ken Livingstone. [cite web |url=http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/george_galloway/2008/01/why_i_back_red_ken.html |title=Why I back Red Ken |publisher=Comment is Free (Guardian Online)]

British National Party

On 9 May 2007, the British National Party announced that Richard Barnbrook, leader of the opposition on Barking & Dagenham Borough Council, and a member of the party's National Advisory Committee, had been selected to stand for election in 2008. [cite web |url=http://regionalnews.bnp.org.uk/bnp-london-region/richard-barnbrook-adopted-as-mayoral-candidate_54.html |title=Richard Barnbrook Adopted as Mayoral Candidate |publisher=British National Party]

English Democrats

In July 2007, the English Democrats Party announced that talkSPORT presenter Garry Bushell had been nominated as a candidate to stand against Ken Livingstone in the 2008 election. In January 2008 Garry Bushell stepped aside (due to work commitments) in favour of Fathers-4-Justice Campaigner Matt O'Connor, who successfully stood against Andrew Constantine, a City of London Banker, in a selection contest. O'Connor is also their last London-wide list Assembly candidate. O'Connor withdrew on the 25th April, after he fell out with the party over leadership, campaign funding and tactics.

Christian Choice

On 12 February Alan Craig was selected by the Christian Choice Party to stand in the Mayoral election. [cite web |url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23437055-details/Mosque+critic+brands+himself+the+'Christian+choice'+for+mayor/article.do |title=Mosque critic brands himself the 'Christian choice' for mayor |publisher=thisislondon.co.uk] The Christian Choice Party are an alliance between the Christian Party and The Christian People's Alliance.

Potential candidates who did not stand

There were a significant number of people who claimed that they were planning to stand, but did not submit valid nomination papers.

One London Party

The One London Party announced that their leader, Damian Hockney, would be their candidate in 2008 [cite web|title=OneLondon|url=http://onelondonweb.blogspot.com/2008/02/damian-hockney-one-londons-candidate.html] but on 27 March 2008 Hockney withdrew from the mayoral race. He blamed a lack of media opportunities for smaller parties such as his, and claimed the race was "a media election, fought just in the media". [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7316766.stm BBC NEWS | Politics | Hockney quits London mayoral race ] ]

"Time Out"

The London listings magazine "Time Out" announced it planned to recruit a self-financing candidate to stand on a manifesto agreed by its readers. [ [http://www.timeout.com/london/features/3363.html The Battle to be Mayor of London - Time Out London ] ] In February 2008 it confirmed that columnist Michael Hodges would be its candidate, standing on a reformist ticket. [ [http://www.helphodges2008.com/ Help Hodges 2008 ] ] . However, he decided not to stand, citing the bureaucratic legislative requirements for candidates and instead pledged to "fight on" to open the system up to ordinary Londoners to stand as independents [cite web|title=Time Out|url=http://www.timeout.com/london/features/4517/Time_Out-s_Mayor_battle_goes_to_Parliament.html] .

John Bird

In March 2007 following widespread speculation that John Bird, founder of The Big Issue, would seek the Conservative nomination, [ [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/pandora/article2338399.ece Bird's the word to stop Ken (but don't mention it until April) - Pandora, Columnists - The Independent ] ] he announced that he would stand as an independent, on a platform of "social inclusion". In October 2007, he withdrew from the race and instead promised to launch a new social movement around tackling poverty. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7051608.stm BBC NEWS | Politics | Big Issue founder targets poverty ] ]

Others

Chris Prior planned to stand on a platform to abolish the congestion charge [ [http://www.stopcc.com/ Abolish the Congestion Charge ] ] for the London Assembly but pulled out of the mayoral race shortly before the close of nominations.

On 21 February 2008 Dennis Delderfield announced he would stand for the New Britain Party. He said he would abolish the Mayoral office and the GLA [ [http://www.newbritain.org.uk/events_programme_2008.html New Britain - Events Programme 2008 ] ] . He did not submit a valid nomination.

John Flunder was to be the Senior Citizens Party candidate for Mayor of London [cite web|title=BBC|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2008/03/10/profile_john_flunder_feature.shtml] [ [http://www.seniorcitizensparty.org.uk Senior Citizens Party ] ] but did not submit a valid nomination.

LondonElectsYou.co.uk, a social networking site aimed at selecting a member of the public to contest the election with a £50,000 campaign budget, was set up in March 2008 [cite web|title=brand republic|url=http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/787820/Livingstone-faces-social-networking-rival-mayoral-race/] . The winning candidate did not submit any nomination however, with the site's founder David Smuts claiming that electoral authorities' bureaucratic obstructions failed to get them the required access to the electoral register to validate their nomination [ [http://www.londonelectsyou.co.uk LondonelectsYOU! ] ] .

In April 2007 Richard Fairbrass, the lead singer of pop band Right Said Fred, announced that he may stand for Mayor of London on a platform of opposition to the London congestion charge. [cite web|title=this is London|url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23393091-details/Right%20Said%20Fred:%20I'll%20stand%20for%20London%20Mayor/article.do]

In December 2007 peace protester Brian Haw was reported to have announced his intention to stand for Mayor of London as "the only Pro Peace candidate" [ [http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/12/388510.html UK Indymedia - London Mayor 2008 ] ] [ [http://www.citymayors.com/news/london-elections-08.html City Mayors: London elections May 2008 ] ] but nothing to support this appeared on [http://www.parliament-square.org.uk/ his website] .

Voting system

The Supplementary Vote system is used for all mayoral elections in England and Wales. Under this system voters express a first choice and (optionally) a second choice. If no candidate receives 50% of first choice votes, the top two candidates go to a second round. Voters whose first choice has been eliminated but whose second choice is one of the top two candidates have their second preference vote added to the first-round totals for the leading candidates. This gives a result whereby the winning candidate may be able to claim majority support, although it is not guaranteed.

econd preference recommendations

Various parties recommended a variety of second preferences to their supporters. Labour and the Greens announced a second preference pact, urging Livingstone supporters to give their second choice vote to Berry and "vice versa". Left List also encouraged their supporters to vote Livingstone second, while the BNP encouraged theirs to vote Johnson second, although Johnson stated during the campaign that he did not want the second choice votes of BNP supporters. Brian Paddick was regularly pressed through the campaign to recommend a second preference choice to Liberal Democrat voters, with Livingstone and the Labour Party keen to be chosen, but Paddick refused to make such a recommendation, revealing after the election that his second preference vote was for the Left List.

Vote counting

Votes were counted using an optical scan voting system, where a computer scans the ballot papers and registers the votes. A digital image of the ballot paper was also taken so if there were problems with any of the papers, they could be examined by humans. In 2008, due to the large turnout, the counting took over 15 hours. However, if counted manually the process could - according to London Elects - take up to 3 days. [http://www.londonelects.org.uk/results/e-counting.aspx London Elects - E-Counting Process] (accessed 02 May 2008)] Election observers [https://extranet.electoralcommission.org.uk/document-summary?assetid=57285 Election observers] (accessed 23 July 2008)] have declared "there is insufficient evidence available to allow independent observers to state reliably whether the results declared in the May 2008 elections for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly are an accurate representation of voters’ intentions." [ [http://www.openrightsgroup.org/2008/07/02/org-verdict-on-london-elections-insufficient-evidence-to-declare-confidence-in-results/ Election Observers Report: London elections May 2008, "Insufficient evidence" to declare confidence in results<] ] London Elects have been unable to publish an audit of some of the software used in the count [http://www.kablenet.com/kd.nsf/Frontpage/C3191DC9202CC0C180257479005F50B6?OpenDocument Kable - Observers criticise London e-count - 2 July 2008 ] ] . The Open Rights Group reports that there was equipment directly connected to the counting servers to which observers had limited or no access to and that the presence of error messages, bugs and system freezes indicates poor software quality. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/02/london.mayor London mayoral election: doubts over 41,000 votes counted by machine] ]

Opinion polling

N.B. These polls apply to First preference votes only. Source: UK Polling Report [cite web|url=http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/london-mayor|title=Mayoral voting intention - First preference|publisher=UK Polling Report|accessdate=2008-04-09]

References

ee also

*London Assembly election, 2008
*Greater London Authority
*Mayor of London
*London Assembly

External links

* [http://www.londonelects.org.uk/ London Elects - official election website]
* [http://www.mayorwatch.co.uk/2008-election-news.php MayorWatch 2008 Election news]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mayoroflondonelection2008/ Daily Telegraph news and opinion on 2008 election]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/london08/ Guardian news and opinion on 2008 election]
* [http://www.citymayors.com/news/london-elections-08.html CityMayors London08 page]
* [http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/index.jsp Roles and responsibilities of the Mayor (GLA official website)]