Merrick Cockell, one of our patrons and Chair of London Councils, has penned an open letter to LocalGov on the future of London Government:
The mayor and I have already started discussions on how we can make this great city even greater.
One of our first discussions was on how we might ensure the capital’s public services are fit for purpose in a modern global city. Key to this will be delivering excellence and value for money across the board.
All our public services – from local councils to the NHS, the police, schools and universities – must be pulling in the same direction, so one of the first ideas we would like to work on with Boris is to deliver a London Public Service Board. Chaired by the mayor, this would bring together all the leaders of London’s public services to develop common goals and share expertise to deliver better results for London’s communities.
Londoners demand value for money from their public services.
The boroughs know this only too well, so we want to work with the mayor to set up a new team charged with investigating and assuring both value for money and effective delivery of all London’s public services and investment projects. This team would scrutinise all services and investment projects in the public interest – from a new school in local neighbourhoods through to massive projects such as Crossrail and the 2012 Olympic Games.
As soon as London Councils issues its full report into London governance we shall post a copy here.
Whilst Boris Johnson enacts his campaign pledges with admirable speed, Dave Hill on the politics blog of The Guardian asks an interesting question - “what is Ken Livingstone up to?”
He made his first appearance… when the new assembly met for the first time. He was there again today to witness Boris Johnson’s question time debut and has promised to be at every one.
I wonder how Mayor Johnson is feeling about all this, his vanquished foe endlessly manifesting like a pesky ghost.
What is the ex-Mayor after? A 2012 run? A London seat? Is he reminding Gordon Brown that it is time for him to be ennobled as Lord Livingstone of Brent?
Only time will tell. Meantime, perhaps we should ask him to send a few suggestions through to our iWant campaign…
Below is a copy of a letter which we sent to the Mayor’s office earlier today:
Boris Johnson
Mayor of London
City Hall
London SE1 2AA
Friday 9th May 2008
Dear Mr Johnson,
Firstly, please accept our congratulations on your election as Mayor of London.
It is clear from the scale of your victory that Londoners have a taste for change. It is in that spirit which I write to you now.
Shortly before 1st May, LondonSays released its Alternative Manifesto, which was written by a cross-party panel of experts. The articles inside include fresh thinking on the London Economy, Transport, Community Cohesion, Policing and Sustainability.
Whilst you were elected on a clear manifesto it is a matter of course that any leader must be in the business of constantly refreshing their ideas. We very much hope that you will take the ideas in the Alternative Manifesto under consideration.
You were kind enough to offer our organisation an endorsement during the election campaign, stating that “looked forward to receiving developments from [us] in the upcoming months.” With that in mind, I enclose a copy of the Alternative Manifesto.
We would appreciate your thoughts on the articles within, and hope that you embrace some of the ideas put forward by us during your stewardship of London.
With kind regards,
Simon Fell
Co-founder
LondonSays.org
For information, you can download our Alternative Manifesto here
The Architects’ Journal has asked some of architecture’s key players to pen an open letter to the new Mayor, detailing their wishes for the city “from urban branding and public space strategies to air conditioning on the Tube”.
The article is certainly worth a read, and I highlight Dan Ringelstein’s contribution below (Mr Ringelstine is Director of Urban Design and Planning at SOM):
You should take inspiration from other international examples, like Chicago and Paris, where urban environments have improved tremendously over recent years.
In Chicago, Mayor Richard M Daley took over the school system, city streets and public spaces and made the city a more appealing place for people to live as well as work. It is his personal involvement that is leading directly to the creation of a better city environment for families and businesses alike.
In Paris, Mayor Bertrand Delanoë has taken over the Seine riverfront on weekends to create ‘Paris Plage’, which has successfully re-engaged people with the waterfront. His introduction of the Velib public bike-hire system has promoted a more healthy lifestyle and more sustainable means of getting around.
In London, the Mayor’s approach should continue to push both the private and public sectors to deliver world-class development with high-quality designs.
The reason which I mention this is, of course, our iWant campaign, which continues to garner interest.
Keep your eyes peeled for an interim publication this week, as part of the on-going campaign.
With all the votes counted, Boris Johnson has been elected as the new Mayor of London.
The BBC carries an interview with him and a profile of his career thus far.
LondonSays looks forward to working with the new Mayor and his administration as he settles into the role.
With early results from the counts coming in, several publications have called the election for Boris Johnson:
The Evening Standard has called the race for Mr Johnson, with the paper also running a political obituary for his chief opponent and the current Mayor, Ken Livingstone.
Meanwhile the Guardian and the Telegraph run process articles on Mr Johnson’s winning strategy in the race.
Due to delays with the count the result isn’t due in until almost midnight, but at this stage it looks like Mr Johnson will be elected the next Mayor by a comfortable margin.
22.14 Update: (Genuinely the last one of the night as I have a life) Tessa Jowell, Livingstone’s campaign manager, has stated that she doesn’t believe he will win the Mayoral race. Meanwhile, the BBC is also reporting that the Conservatives on the Assembly are looking at a close to 6% swing.
Whilst we wait for a result from this election, I’ve taken the opportunity to re-set the countdown clock on the right of this page…
…I’m sure that whomever is announced as being the victor tonight will enjoy being put on notice for the next campaign!
As we the votes for the Mayoral elections are counted and verified, there is a strange quiet over London.
Nation-wide it is clear that David Cameron’s Conservatives have had an impressive showing, making footholds in the north and consolidating their position elsewhere. Gordon Brown will have much work to do to steady his ship now.
Back in London, the pundits are offering their views:
The International Herald Tribune offers an overview of the race until its close, whilst the BBC carries a fine analysis of the biggest issues sitting on the desk of the winner.
The final poll before the vote opened put Boris Johnson ahead by 6 points, and ConservativeHome even going so far as to call the election for the Conservative candidate. However, Ken Livingstone has said that he believes that he’ll win, though the result will be close.
No matter which candidate wins we shall have to wait until this evening to get the final result, which we shall publish here when announced. Stay tuned…
