The race for London Mayor is hotting up. It is closely-contested by Labour’s Ken Livingstone and the Conservative’s Boris Johnson. However, and thank goodness: the election system used for Mayor of London means that voters can pick whoever they want as their first preference and then transfer their vote ‘tactically’ using their second preference vote. The Lib Dems are polling poorly, and are likely to drop below their score of 2004. Green Party candidate, Sian Berry, is charismatic and dynamic, and it may well be that it is the Green Party that profits this time from this ‘alternative vote’ system. In short: Sian Berry is increasingly likely to get the highest-votes ever received by Mayoral candidates for the Green Party in a mayoral race.
I'm in the probably-unusual situation of being friends with both Boris and Sian. Boris and I went to College together at Oxford and studied Philosophy together. Back then, in fact, we were political allies! Although we have totally diverged politically since then, we have stayed in touch. We saw each other last last summer, at Henley Regatta, on the Thames.
I have known the Green Party candidate for London Mayor, Sian Berry, for several years now; she has visited my home and helped me and others to get elected to the Council in Norwich, and I have often visited with her in Camden and worked with her on her campaigns in favour of Green energy and against urban 4x4s.
Sian would make a brilliant Mayor [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/siacircn-berry-green-party-candidate-for-london-mayor-you-ask-the-questions-793615.html ], and it would be fantastic to see Green policies transforming our capital city. In terms of who would get my second preference vote; I’m not sure- but I’m afraid it definitely wouldn’t be Boris. He is an affable guy, and smarter than he looks; but the Mayor of London has to be someone who can actually run the country’s capital city. I don’t think that that would be Boris’s forte. Hosting “Have I got news for you” and running London are not really comparable enterprises….
It's interesting to see that Sian and Ken are now cross-endorsing each other:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7304280.stm
I think that that probably makes sense. I bet there will be lots of 'Sian 1 Ken 2' votes, this time.
Loads of people should vote Green, this time, and at the very least make sure that we get our big fat deposit back. But IF it comes down to Ken vs. Boris on second preferences, then surely Ken has done enough good as London Mayor to deserve a third term.
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