| Revision as of 11:43, 23 November 2011 editDoktorbuk (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers21,670 editsm Reinstate deleted material (cited sources and context). Undid revision 462078855 by AlbionIsle (talk)← Previous edit | Revision as of 20:49, 24 November 2011 edit undoLucy-marie (talk | contribs)10,326 edits →Liberal Democrats: added court challengeNext edit → | ||
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| ], ], ], ] and ] were also seen as possible candidates {{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}. | ], ], ], ] and ] were also seen as possible candidates {{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}. | ||
| On 15 October 2010, plans for selecting a candidate were deferred for twelve months.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23888293-lib-dem-failure-to-find-candidate-puts-party-out-of-mayoral-race-for-year.do |title=Lib-Dem failure to find candidate puts party out of mayoral race for year |publisher=Thisislondon.co.uk |date= |accessdate=2011-05-30}}</ref> On 12 July 2011, the new shortlist of four candidates was announced. As a reult of the annoucement of the shortlist a High Court complaint was lodged by Patrick Streeter who was unsuccessful in being shortlisted. Subsequesntly the High Court ruled the Liberal Democrats selection process fair and lawful.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/Comment/article415502.ece | |||
| (paywall)|title=London Lib Dem Mayoral candidate “applied to High Court” over non-approval | |||
| |publisher=The Times |date=2010-10-10 |accessdate=2011-11-24}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.libdemvoice.org/patrick-streeter-21551.html |title=London Lib Dem Mayoral candidate “applied to High Court” over non-approval|publisher=Liberal Democrat Voice |date=2010-10-11 |accessdate=2011-11-24}}</ref> The result was declared after a ballot of party members on 2 September.<ref>, London Liberal Democrats, 12 July 2011</ref> The four candidates were Öpik, Paddick, Brian Haley and ]. Haley is a councillor in ] and was a member of the Labour Party until defecting in January 2010.<ref>, by David Hardiman, ''Haringey Independent'', 6 July 2011</ref> Paddick was the party's candidate in 2008 and previously Deputy Assistant Commissioner of London's ]. Tuffrey led the Liberal Democrat group on the ] between 2006 and 2010. | |||
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The 2012 London mayoral election will be held on Thursday 3 May 2012 to elect the Mayor of London. It will be the fourth such election since the post of Mayor of London was started in 2000. The three main parties are all standing the same candidates as stood in the previous contest in 2008: that is, the incumbent, Boris Johnson for the Conservative Party; Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London from 2000 to 2008, for Labour Party; and Brian Paddick for the Liberal Democrats.
All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) living in London who will be be aged 18 or over on Thursday 3 May 2012 are entitled to vote in the mayoral election. The deadline to register to vote in the election is midnight on Wednesday 18 April 2012, though anyone who qualifies as an anonymous elector has until midnight on Thursday 26 April 2012 to register.
Background
At the 2008 mayoral election, Boris Johnson defeated incumbent mayor Ken Livingstone. Livingstone's defeat was attributed to a loss of support amongst swing voters and voters in London's outer suburbs. The contest was also one of several elections that took place in England and Wales, which generally demonstrated poor results for Labour as well.
Candidate nominations selection process
Conservative Party
Media reports alleged tension between Johnson and the national Conservative leadership as well as the Conservative-controlled central government. This may have led Johnson to seek a parliamentary seat to challenge these two entities rather than seek a second term as mayor. However, on 10 September 2010, he announced his intention to stand for a second term. At a re-selection meeting on 14 October 2010, he faced a period of questioning, before being unanimously adopted as the Conservatives' candidate.
Labour Party
The Labour nominee was elected by an electoral college composed half-and-half of the votes of Labour members in London, and the votes of affiliated organisations. The ballot papers were issued around early September 2010, and the winner announced on 24 September. Four people initially sought the nomination: Livingstone, Oona King, Seton During and Emmanuel Okoro.
Ken Livingstone had announced his intention to regain the mayoralty in March 2009, and said at the time that he would run as an independent again if he failed to gain Labour's nomination. Oona King announced her bid in late May 2010.
Prior to the vote, Livingstone gained the support of the GMB and Unite unions, as well as the backing of the majority of Labour members in the London Assembly. The Economist wrote that he is "by some distance the favourite to win the candidacy".
On 24 September 2010, the Labour party announced that Livingstone had defeated King for the nomination. Livingstone polled 68.8% of the total votes.
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Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone
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Former Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green & Bow Oona King
Liberal Democrats
Around the beginning of September 2010, the Liberal Democrats started accepting applications for their nominee. Lembit Öpik, Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire from 1997 until his defeated re-election bid in 2010, said in June 2010 that he would like to be their candidate. Liberal Democrat councillor Duwayne Brooks, a friend of murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence who was with him when he died, also put himself forward. Caroline Pidgeon, Floella Benjamin, Joanna Lumley, Brian Paddick and Susan Kramer were also seen as possible candidates .
On 15 October 2010, plans for selecting a candidate were deferred for twelve months. On 12 July 2011, the new shortlist of four candidates was announced. As a reult of the annoucement of the shortlist a High Court complaint was lodged by Patrick Streeter who was unsuccessful in being shortlisted. Subsequesntly the High Court ruled the Liberal Democrats selection process fair and lawful. The result was declared after a ballot of party members on 2 September. The four candidates were Öpik, Paddick, Brian Haley and Mike Tuffrey. Haley is a councillor in Haringey and was a member of the Labour Party until defecting in January 2010. Paddick was the party's candidate in 2008 and previously Deputy Assistant Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police. Tuffrey led the Liberal Democrat group on the London Assembly between 2006 and 2010.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Brian Paddick | 1,289 | 41.7% | ||
| Liberal Democrats | Mike Tuffrey | 1,232 | 39.9% | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Brian Haley | 316 | 10.2% | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Lembit Öpik | 252 | 8.2% | N/A | |
| Turnout | 3,089 | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Brian Paddick | 1,567 | 51.5 | +9.8% | |
| Liberal Democrats | Mike Tuffrey | 1,476 | 48.5 | +8.6% | |
| Majority | 50 | 3.0% | |||
| Turnout | 3,043 | ||||
Green Party
The Green Party announced its shortlist on 2 February 2011. London members chose Assembly member Jenny Jones who won 67% of votes cast over lecturer Shahrar Ali and writer Farid Bakht. Jenny Jones served as Deputy Mayor 2003-2004 during the first term of Ken Livingstone, when he was an Independent Mayor. Jenny Jones launched her mayoral campaign on the 16th October 2011 with the release of a mini manifesto. here
British National Party
On 7 September 2011 the British National Party (BNP) announced London member Carlos Cortiglia as its candidate, who is a press officer for the party. Cortiglia was born in Uruguay of Spanish and Italian ancestry and came to the United Kingdom in 1989. He has previously taken part in a televised abortion debate on RT (Russia Today) in his capacity as press officer and was a list candidate for the party in the assembly elections in 2004. He has worked for the BBC World Service and has been involved in several areas of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, including television, radio and Internet via London Radio Service, British Satellite News, APTN and other media. In a 2003 interview, Cortiglia is quoted:
Soy argentino oriental, o dicho de otro modo, uruguayo de nacimiento, y me siento muy ligado emocionalmente a la República Argentina. En 1982 me ofrecí como voluntario para ir a las Islas Malvinas. Todo nació de mi gran interés por la historia y por haber crecido nutrido por los ideales de lo que podría haber sido y finalmente no fue. Esto me llevó finalmente a involucrarme en la carrera periodística que, en definitiva, fue lo que me trajo al Reino Unido.
That is, Cortiglia said that, feeling an emotional connection to Argentina, in 1982, he had volunteered to go to the Falkland Islands, which has been interpreted as showing support for Argentina in the Falklands War. In 2011, Cortiglia labelled the erroneous suggestion that he had fought for Argentina as "far left fabrication" and explained the quote in La Nación so:
As a State employee and as a Uruguayan (not as a British citizen), I made a public pronouncement expressing the position of the Uruguayan government. If Argentina had suspected, at any point in time, that Uruguay would be siding with Britain or helping Britain, Uruguayan neutrality would have been compromised.
UK Independence Party
On 2 June 2011, an email was sent to all UKIP members from the Executive Chairman setting out a timetable for selection and requesting applications from possible candidates. The candidate will be officially selected at the end of September. The party held an online poll, the results of which influenced the final vote. The six candidates were David Coburn, Michael Corby, Michael McGough, Paul Oakley, Winston McKenzie and Lawrence Webb. On the 5th September, Lawrence Webb was selected by London members as the official UKIP candidate.
Independent Candidates
Teacher and Community Support Officer Femi Solola is running as an independent.
Opinion polls
In the run up to the election, several polling organisations will carry out public opinion polling in regards to voting intentions. Results of such polls are displayed below.
ARPO, ICM, Ipsos MORI, Populus, TNS-BMRB (formerly TNS System Three) and YouGov are members of the British Polling Council, and abide by its disclosure rules.
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