When ‘Red Ken’ took back London

On May 4, 2000, South London born and raised Ken Livingstone became Mayor of London.

The independent candidate and MP, expelled from the Labour Party, won the contest with a clear victory, having polled nearly 40 per cent of first preferences.

Livingstone had already captured the top job in London Government two decades prior, after a post-election coup threw him into the leadership of the Greater London Council (GLC) in 1981.

Throughout the 1980s he revelled in being a thorn in the side of the right, supporting everyone from striking miners to Sinn Fein’s leaders at the height of the IRA’s bombing campaign.

He made fun of Margaret Thatcher from across the Thames by displaying the unemployment figures on City Hall.

Then, the second time round, Livingstone won widespread praise for the way he stood up for London after the July 2005 suicide bombings and helped win the 2012 Olympic Games for the capital.

He introduced the congestion charge, massively reducing congestion and improving travel times in central London. He invested in the bus network. He gave Londoners the Oyster card and transformed the London Overground.

He was returned to Labour to win again in 2004 – before finally being halted by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, eight years later.

Livingstone came to be known as Red Ken for his far-left policies. Perhaps his politics can be traced back to his childhood.

He was born at his grandmother’s house in Shrubbery Road, Streatham, in 1945. His family was working class, his mother, Ethel Ada, had been born in Southwark before training as an acrobatic dancer.

Moving to a Tulse Hill council housing estate, Livingstone attended St Leonard’s Primary School, and in 1956 began secondary education at Tulse Hill Comprehensive School. 

According to John Carvel’s biography of Livingtone, it was at Tulse Hill Comprehensive school that his form tutor encouraged debate on current events.

Livingstone related that this inspired his interest in politics and turned him into “an argumentative cocky little brat”.

It was also around this time that Livingstone developed a strong interest in newts.

Writing in the Guardian in 2010, he described skipping school and going to Streatham Common, hoping to catch some tadpoles. Instead, he found a newt, which he took home with him.

He wrote: “My newt plunged into his new domain and slowly pranced backwards and forwards across the bottom. Mesmerised, I sat and stared at the exquisite detail of the colours and patterns in its tail, crest and the bright-orange spotted belly as it swam up to take another gulp of air.”

This fascination with reptiles – which would see him work in a laboratory in Fulham alongside a cohort of socialist – may have contributed to his success as a politician. But, his obsessive need for debate led to his downfall.

Looking back now at his career, it is sad to see Livingstone’s reputation disfigured by repeated rows about antisemitism, and completely brainless remarks about Hitler.

His long final act began in April 2016, when Naz Shah, an MP, was briefly suspended from the party after she shared a Facebook post in which had suggested relocating Israel to the US as a “solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict” – a comment which has really not aged well.

The former mayor took it upon himself to defend Shah, and gave an interview in which he argued that Adolf Hitler had supported Zionism, the existence of a Jewish state, “before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews”.

It was a comment made even more confusing coming from the man who introduced a giant menorah that graces Trafalgar Square every December to celebrate Hanukkah.

But, Livingstone in power was arguably a great success. He invested in services, public events and civil rights, and – largely – embraced diversity and solidarity within the capital.

Pictured top: Ken Livingstone World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos, 2008 (Picture: Flickr, World Economic Forum)