Last night was the first of doubtless many debates between the candidates for Mayor of London.
To be honest I have been in a gentle kind of despair about the idea of Ken Livingstone, who I believe to be incompetent, doctrinaire and rather crooked, holding on to his job.
Certainly, the idea of Boris Johnson- the clownish, gaffe prone Conservative candidate- replacing Livingstone is really not appealing at all. I think I prefer the dubious crook to the embarrassing clown.
However, one candidate last night actually did come over as a sound and sensible figure. Brian Paddick was a guy who one can imagine dealing with - God forbid- a major terrorist incident. He also has interesting ideas about how to tackle the mess in transport and already knows far more than other two do about Policing.
He is clearly thoughtful and intelligent.
Between the posturing of the two gargoyles -Ken and Boris- Brian Paddick looks extremely good. If Boris's campaign implodes , as it easily might, and the rumours of Mayoral shenanigans prove to be more than rumours, then Brian Paddick could even end up as the winner of the contest.
I certainly hope so- I believe him to be much better qualified than the other two.
To be honest I have been in a gentle kind of despair about the idea of Ken Livingstone, who I believe to be incompetent, doctrinaire and rather crooked, holding on to his job.
Certainly, the idea of Boris Johnson- the clownish, gaffe prone Conservative candidate- replacing Livingstone is really not appealing at all. I think I prefer the dubious crook to the embarrassing clown.
However, one candidate last night actually did come over as a sound and sensible figure. Brian Paddick was a guy who one can imagine dealing with - God forbid- a major terrorist incident. He also has interesting ideas about how to tackle the mess in transport and already knows far more than other two do about Policing.
He is clearly thoughtful and intelligent.
Between the posturing of the two gargoyles -Ken and Boris- Brian Paddick looks extremely good. If Boris's campaign implodes , as it easily might, and the rumours of Mayoral shenanigans prove to be more than rumours, then Brian Paddick could even end up as the winner of the contest.
I certainly hope so- I believe him to be much better qualified than the other two.
Comments
You prefer a bullying collectivist far left City hall operator who ferments racial tension at every turn to Boris ? Boris is , of course extremely Libertarian, green and the fact he is a brilliant and amusing writer as well is a good thing .
I am saddened to see this miserabilist Brownite cant Thinking on the earlier thread it occurred to me that if the way you represented your Party was true then they could happily with the Conservatives against the statist Brown( and the even worse Livingstone).
Cat in hells chance I see and this is exactly the sort of lie that must be nailed if Libertal candidates are going to stand without telling the voters they intend simply to prop up Brown.
I do not believe it would be possible for Nick Clegg to get his Party to deal with Cameron . The Liberals I knew were from Islignton and they were marginaly less socilaist than Margaret Hodge but no more
I would like to proved wrong but we have to know .I will be actuive in the campaign to get Norman Baker out here and it is excatly this problem that we will be drawing atention to
Vote Baker get Brown. If there are going to be lies up until Polling day then we will at least be in a position to say so.
I must make a donation to Norman's campaign fund.
Sometimes I swing towards clown, on the basis that hopefully he won't actually do that much interfering...
Brian Paddick has impressed me considerably though. I think he can definitely be counted as a contender (unlike Simon Hughes last time round who singularly failed to impress).