A victory for Not-Ken

Although a contributor to London's economy - at least in the number of lunchtime omelettes I buy across the road from the office, if not in my work itself - I am not a resident and hence did not get a vote for mayor this week.

Nonetheless I am happy to go on the record as being happy that Boris Johnson won. The electorate weren't exactly spoilt for choice. There were only four candidates who got any publicity at all.
Sian Berry is a member of an extreme Green group.
Brian Paddick is a gay policeman and, er, who knows?
Boris is known for his gaffes and buffoonery, under which I suspect lie some views that are closer to the 19th than the 21st century.
Ken Livingstone is himself, which in many people's eyes is enough to make him unelectable.

This is the man who said he wouldn't serve more than one term, who said that no mayor should serve more than two terms - and then tried for a third. A man who welcomed all kinds of extremists (both political and religious). A man who took junketing and cronyism to a new level. A man who introduced bendy buses which may be statistically successful (if you overlook the spontaneous combustion of several in the early days) but have drivers boiling over as they block junctions and are a fare-dodger's delight into the bargain. A man who said he would never increase the congestion charge from £8 and then put it up to £25. A man who held a consultation about extending the congestion zone west and ignored the 80% majority opposition to implement the scheme anyway. A man who makes a big deal of travelling by public transport but appears to have invested nothing in the Tube, only buses.

The only way the Tories could have lost was to put forward a complete idiot of a candidate and even they couldn't find one bad enough to lose to Ken. Boris may well screw up the actual business of being mayor, although the way he's avoided hot water during the campaign suggests some wiser heads are playing a part in his operation these days. History may show him as something of a stalking horse but the crucial thing is, London has declared a victory for Someone Who is Not Ken.