Today, Londoners elect the person who will represent their city for the next four years.
The repercussions of local laws on peoples’ day-to-day lives are often understated, routinely affecting us as much as central governments’ decisions.
The newly elected Mayor will certainly have to deal with important matters to keep developing and improving the city before ending his term with the London Olympic Games in 2012.
So what do you think are the big challenges facing the new London Mayor?
Keeping down the cost of the London Olympics is paramount. It has already doubled since it was announced that we would be hosting the games, and is set to rise further, to £20 billion, if rumours are correct. That is the single greatest challenge facing the incoming Mayor.
Further, I would say that crime is also spiralling out of control in the capital and must be checked. Black-on-black gun crime is an all too familiar story in London, and something must be done to get the guns off the street. I’d like to see more Police officers freed up from red-tape and form filling, and out on the beat. And I’m not talking about plastic cops, aka PCSOs. I mean real Police officers who are able to perform the full range of duties.
Congestion charging should be scrapped. It has raised just under £1 billion and, despite claims that this money would used to improve transport, only £15 million has been raised when you take out the admin and set-up costs, so that’s £985 million that has gone straight to Capita. TfL recently admitted that congestion has not eased since the CC scheme was introduced, so what exactly is the point of it apart from allowing a private company to raise huge amounts of money at the expense of the taxpayer?
The outcome of the London election for Mayor will result in the followinG : -
1) If Ken Livingstone is re-elected Mayor of London – there will be no change – carry on as usual. Any silly promises made prior to the election to be ignored.
2) If Boris Johnson is elected as Mayor of London – there will be a brief period of drunken rejoycing – followed by four years of depression, cut backs, jobs for the boys and all manner of booze and sex scandals at City Hall.
3) If any one else is elected it will either be a miracle or a fix.
Yours affectionatly,
A Sceptic
If the millions of rats in the cage called London who fear that sex, money or murder are what all strangers want, managed to vote for an idiot that even there own party members are embarrassed about, then they will get what they deserve. How London will face up to the Olympics I do not know.
London has enjoyed better public transport in recent times and an attitude of international advancement, the sort of thing that got it the Olympics which certainly would not have happened if it had just been the money grabbing centre of neurosis that is its underbelly.
I do not expect that idiot will win because of the transferable second vote; some people in London are sensible, in spite of the place.
In that case, it will have to watch out for National politicians trying to harness it and make it into the cut throat capital of the world.
Not a place to be un til 2013.
With the games in mind one of the greatest challenges has to be the transport situation. Anyone who has travelled in London recently will know that on a normal day the traffic is gridlocked and the underground packed to capacity. Now throw in the millions of extra visitors that will be coming in for the games and you have a recipe for disaster. Any actions that are put in place will have lasting effects on the local people.
I really don’t care (read apathy). As a Londoner, I feel the single most important issue for London or any bustling city is crime and how to cut it down. The reason for my apathy is quite simple…… We will be promised the earth, yet delivery of said promises will be conveniently forgotten after the election is over. As a human being, I believe it is my right to walk in any street without fear of being attacked and as long as the punishments dealt out remain so lenient, this will never be the case.
As for the Olympics, what a joke. Talk about papering over the cracks. The money spent should be used for helping the homeless, elderly and improvement on public services. This will be just another reason for ‘think tanks’ getting together and having 5 hour lunches at the tax payers expense.
Forgive my cynical outlook, but track records speak for themselves.
Given that Boris is now mayor, I think the main challenge will be to avoid making too many gaffes and trying to come across as someone who can be taken seriously, instead of a joker on HIGNFY.
I think his success will be judged by how many countries he avoids insulting prior to the London 2012 Olympics, rather than ill-thought through ideas like replacing bendy-buses (admittedly a bad idea themselves) with modern-day route-master replacements complete with conductors (one word- Oyster card).
I wonder if he’ll still appear on HIGNFY. He was always entertaining so I hope he agrees to make a fool of himself on it (in addition to making a fool of himself as mayor of London).
Obviously this is a question for Londoners. Will you be interested in gaining info on newly elected mayors for, say, Norwich, Newcastle and even Coventry in years to come. We’re told the London election will tell the UK as a whole what they think of the Labour party…but if you’re living on benefits in Rotherham, or elsewhere…they could have told you what they thought of Labour many years ago.
It no surprise to see so many people are against change,
namely voting for Ken Livingstone, and getting the same again for the next 4 years as the last 8. Some are so stick in the mud. The people of London cannot afford a third term of Ken, too many businesses and people are already being forced out because of cost. I say let’s have a change, things could not really get worse, I am sure a referendum through-out the country on the Olympics, would have brought a no vote and saved us billions.
Boris for Mayor.
The new mayor will fce alot of challenges if it is Red Ken Livingstone. He will have alot of stress, having to write out all the invites for his party for the IRA, having to invite Chairman Mao and Kim Jong Il and Che all his other communist friends over, the stress of it all. I wish him every success with it.
However if it is Boris, then im sure things will be easier for him. He doesnt have to entertain left wing fascists.
After the votes have been counted the one thing that will worry the new mayor – whoever he is will be what to do about the BNP.
They are the only credible party in this whole circus. They will be making huge gains and because the media are finally waking up to the fact that the public are now voting for them they will stop their smears and start printing the truth about them. This in turn will increase their vote at the next election!
A worrying time for whichever liar/cheat/thief/sexual philanderer gets in! Ha ha ha!!!!!!!!!
Big challenges facing the London Mayor…
1. Trying not to look a tit.
2. Trying not to fall over.
3. Trying not sound like a tit.
4. Trying to look like a Statesman.
5. Trying not to put his foot in his mouth every time he opens it.
6. Failing miserably at all of the above..
I think the main problem is inequality. Tower Hamlets is one of the poorest boroughs in the country, yet Westminster is one of the richest. Why hasn’t Ken done anything to address this? And I can’t see Boris do anything to solve this either.
Just as long as the public transport is kept under public control and the new mayor doesn’t listen to the anti immigration brigade, London will still be my second home.
frist thing we need in london is them so call mp and the mayor to ask people like me who get crap money and work long hours and then cant buy or rent a home because we have to play for the games in 2012 which people like me didnt want (as we knew we had to pay for it) so u tell me why do we need them
VOTE BMP AND KEEP ENGLAND BRITISH
To stop being a dogooder to all Foreigners (ie: just got off the Boat) and start concentrating on Real British People, also Attack and Fine all Parents that dont give a **** about their Kids or where they are at night. I could go on and on and on…but I wont
Somebody please Kick Ken Livingstone out of England…all those that Died during World War 1 and 2 would Crucify him if they saw the State he and Labour have done to this Once Great Country.
Shame on all those that voted him. Traitors
BORIS GOT IT!
i am glad that ken didn’t – ken has a way of appearing to say one thing when actually doing another at the same time with hardly anyone noticing
also it is the electorate sending a msg to the labour party – IE we don’t like the policies you introduced at the expense of the policies you you PROMISED you would introduce
and didn’t ALL the parties promise a referendum on the EU? why has labour sold us short even on THAT yet again?
multi religion in RE in schools – just to really confuse kids
rising inflation, more and more red tape, increased surveillance wherever you turn (yet policemen just let the crims out before their term is up in prison), i think we are going backwards not forward
anyone who doesn’t want to end up living in a police state where you can be jumped all over and no one dares lift a finger to help you put your hand up
Trying to be everything to all people and having to please most of the people all of the time.
Sorry for this evasive response but whoever gains the crown will have some task on his hands and actually deserves a medal.
To remove the fool that said he would have to be an idiot to get rid of the routemaster bus!!! and guess who this person is??? Ken Livingstone and some of you want him still despite him wanting to increase the congestion charge to £25 per visit without first resolving the transport problems.
To realise thar people come first, and not big business, after all he’s a public servant thats gets paid to serve the needs of the public..not to rubber stamp everything so that business can have control of peoples lives as they are at the moment.
Well, given that it’s Boris Johnson, perhaps learning how to be a decent human being instead of being an arrogant git would be a pretty good start.
The fact of the matter is that he was the best other option that wasn’t Ken Livingstone. Because there was no one else.
I would think that if Boris Johnson gets in his first task will to be to sort out the mess Livingstone has made. The congestion charges fiasco and Olympic Games soaring budgets and costs spring to mind. Why should Londoners foot the bill for this out of control monster?
One of the biggest challenges of the new London Mayor is to complete the ongoing challenges that the old London Mayor was unable to complete, or even attempt. Transport and housing leave a lot to be desired for a world class City
Boris has the job, the challenges are many, his first is to find a way of erasing peoples memories, he promised affordable housing, if that isn’t a challenge in London I don’t know what is.
Loads.
Crime, terrorism, racism, the Olympics, pollution, 4×4′s, public transport (keeping it safe and reliable), and of course, dealing with traffic.
It will certainly be 2012 fiasco, that Ken and his cronies have done. Also TFL, what a disaster that is mind you, london underground are to blame far to much red tape in that company.
how to understand the cockneys….how to stop being a posh yet somewhat likeable bast***d…if he hadn’t been shot from relative obscurity by a satirical comedy on BBC2(have i got news for u)…then the infamous Liverpool debacle…at least they know what they’re getting!!
Transport. Maybe Boris could reopen some of these long lost underground stations. Also, an outer circle tube line could be considered.
I know he wants to get rid of the bendy buses.
Waterloo International railway station needs to be brought back into use.
not to waist public funds ,with posh offices,do something about gun and knife crime compromise on congestion charge as to help business grow.cheap transport on public transport.not to waist public fund on unnecessary overseas trips give more help to the police
In my view opposing the on-going ethnic cleansing of the indigenous population from London and doing something about the corruption in the allocation of social housing.
There is a possibility of a major flooding disaster in London in the next few years, as the Thames Barrier has limited effectiveness against rising sea levels.
Since when has any Tory given a damn about the poor, transport, jobs or any of the other problems facing London. If you dont believe me just look at The Last 18 years of Tory rule.
making sure he or she earns enough, doing as little as possible, so he/she can retire ASAP.