Do you think Boris or Ken will be Mayor of London after the election?

[ladybirder]

Who do you think will win? Will Boris manage to retain it? Oddschecker has them almost neck and neck. All answers welcome but especially from Londoners.

[DaisyNonna]

Not my problem, neither live or work in London. Any candidate who is not self-seeking? If so, a miracle.

[jno]

Boris most likely as people seldom get thrown out after one term these days. It tends to be Boris in the suburbs v Ken in the inner city.

Nothing will ever get me voting for him, though; I don't trust him or his tame newspaper editors.

[MarkRae]

I'll certainly be voting for Ken.

[ladybirder]

And Ken jno? Would you vote for him? Or Brian Paddick(sp?).

[jno]

no problem with either of them, but I suppose Ken has the better chance of winning.

Before the last election the Evening Standard ran a series of smears about Ken. All were later investigated and found to be false but the damage was done. Londoners stopped reading the Standard at a great rate; it was taken over and its editor Veronica Wadley sacked.

She is now Boris's highly paid arts policy adviser, surprise surprise! She was interviewed by an independent panel who all recommended that she shouldn't be hired, but she was... I wonder how that happened.

[bazwillrun]

We can only hope that the rabid leftie KL doesnt win.

[Old_Geezer]

Oh Lor, it are they the only options ? Can't Londoners find anyone capable to vote for ? Boris the buffoon, or evil Ken who not only that failed to stop public-private partnership but then went on to target drivers charging them for using the roads they had already paid umpteen times over for using the feeble excuse of "congestion". The common folk are forever doomed whist such folk get into positions where they can call the shots.

[owdhamer]

they could do it as joint venture and f__k it up completely

[jno]

the congestion charge wasn't feeble - it was a solution (a capitalist one!) to the problem of having more cars than road space. So the space was rationed by requring payment for it. Given Ken's emphasis on providing cheap public transport to complement the roads, this seems a decent traffic strategy.

(Mayors don't actually have many powers, but traffic is one of them.)

My objection to both Ken and Boris is their mania for skyscrapers.

There are at least six candidates

http://en.wikipedia.o...ayoral_election,_2012

but I think there may be independents as well.

[Old_Geezer]

One solves nothing by pushing a problem elsewhere.

It was one of those "we can claim to be successful whatever the outcome" things. If the traffic reduces then it can be claimed to be "successful". If it didn't and the coffers filled, then it could be claimed to be "successful". The fact is the only real solution is not to abuse sections of the public but make changes so the need to drive in and out is no longer as great as it was. But targetting the easy victim is the preferred route. Much easier than actually tackling the real issue.

[jno]

it didn't push the problem elsewhere - it's not as if people ceased driving into central London and drove round and round Streatham instead.

The problem wasn't traffic as such, it really was congestion - if you've ever driven through London in rush hour you'll know what I mean, and it was serious. And the charge did greatly reduce it. (It increased again a few years later thanks to Thames Water digging up every street in town; as I don't drive there any more, I don't know if this has abated.)

Few people truly "need" to drive into central London. The fact that so many stopped doing so is evidence of this. Those who have to because they live there get a big discount - 90%, I think.

[jake-the-peg]

Interestingly the Evening Standard opinion polls seem to always have Boris ahead

the others though do seem much more evenly matched

http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/london-mayor

[Gromit]

JTP

That is last times election, when Boris was ahead.

[EvianBaby]

I'd vote for Boris (if I lived in London) solely for the reason that he introduced an automated paying system for the congestion charge which not only gives us a discount but has saved us a bloody fortune in fines when the guys forget to pay it.

[naomi24]

Actually, in my experience the introduction of the Congestion Charge hasn’t improved much at all. It still often takes me well over an hour to drive about 5 miles during the morning rush hour – as it always has. I pay the charge and get plenty of congestion for my money, so I suppose I should consider it a bargain! ;o)

However, that’s another issue.

In answer to the question, I hope Boris gets it.

[jno]

my driving was always in the evening and against the flow, but there was definitely an improvement - from about 50 minutes to 40 - and noticeably less traffic. But the waterworks put this sharply into reverse.

I think the discounted rate is still more than the full rate under Ken, but I could be wrong.

[Gromit]

I think Boris will sneak it, but it will be close.

Slightly off topic, the Election of a Mayor in London is a total waste of time and an unwelcome duplication of the democratic process. It was a daft idea by New Labour and most other cities who have been offered an elected mayor have overwhelmingly rejected it.

[ladybirder]

Is the bike scheme working?

[rov1100]

Seemed a bit of a waste of money by Boris getting rid of the bendy buses. They are more economical to run and the only thing going for them was it helped to cull the amount of cyclists using up valuable road space.